Playing With Fire
by iflip4dolphins
Summary: She lost her house and her sanity in one terrible fire. After leaving one institute to come to another, Kaylie must come to grips with her power while regaining her sanity and dealing with the hazards of fire. Takes place directly after X1 ends. PyroOC
1. Visit to the Institution

_Disclaimer: I am not Marvel Comics. I do not own X-men._

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The building had looked inhospitable from the outside; it was low, stark white, and flat, without windows, with forbidding security that had made it difficult to pass through the barbed wire electric fencing that surrounded it even though they were invited. Once they'd stepped inside, Jean was even less convinced that anybody could thrive in such a place. Her heels clicked sharply on the clean white tile as she wheeled the Professor into the front room where a tall woman, blonde hair pulled back into a strict bun, sat behind a stainless steel desk.

"Professor," the woman said as she stood up and walked around the desk, stopping in front of them. She held out her hand. "I'm Francine Webber. Thank you for coming."

"Not a problem, Mrs. Webber," the Professor replied, giving her hand one firm shake before allowing Jean to take it. "This is Jean Grey and Scott Summers," he added as Scott took hold of Mrs. Webber's hand and shook it once before letting go. "I take it the girl is ready?"

"Yes. If you'll follow me?" Without waiting for an answer, Mrs. Webber turned and led them through a door that brought them to a white hallway. The woman took them through a maze of passageways, leading the trio past rooms that nobody could consider normal. The bedrooms were plain and white, with plexiglass windows in the doors and bars across the windows. Jean caught glimpses of people: a man huddled in a corner, a group of people in a large room listening to what she thought was a therapist speaking, a boy talking animatedly to himself in the middle of his room, and others, so many others. She silently thanked the Professor for warning her ahead of time what this place would be like, though she didn't open her mind to actually send the message. It would affect her, and she didn't think she'd like the changes.

Finally, Mrs. Webber stopped in front of a door, typical of the others in that it possessed a barred window. Jean peered into the window and saw a white room with three padded chairs sitting in the middle. A petite girl with bright red hair sat in one of the chairs, swaying from side to side as though listening to a song only she could hear. A moment passed and she leaped up from the chair, knocking it over in the process, a look of sheer panic replacing the calm that had been there seconds before. She stared wildly around the room before running over to a wall, dragging the chair with her, and crouching to hide behind it as she pressed herself up against the wall, covering her ears with her hands.

"Kaylie Croft was diagnosed three years ago with acute schizophrenia," Mrs. Webber began, handing the professor a file. "She hears voices and has severe and unpredictable mood swings. She was admitted to this institution roughly three months ago after attempting to take her own life at the institution in Denver where she used to be hospitalized. Apparently they believe that we can do something to help her."

"You don't believe that," Scott guessed dryly. Mrs. Webber nodded.

"Correct. For the past three years, Kaylie has seen doctors, therapists, taken medications – nothing works. When she was sent here the doctors at the other institute had taken her off her medications since they weren't working and were just keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't get worse. Clearly, they failed."

"I see," Professor Xavier murmured, closing the file that he'd been looking through as Mrs. Webber had been explaining. Jean glanced through the window again to see that Kaylie had vacated her spot behind the chair to pace back and forth in front of the door, muttering to herself. "Do you believe the girl is a mutant?"

Though Mrs. Webber didn't shrug, Jean thought she might as well have; the helplessness in her face was apparent even to Scott, who caught Jean's eyes and shook his head with a gruff sadness. "I have no idea," Mrs. Webber replied honestly. "I do know that Kaylie believes herself to be insane, which may be a side effect of everyone treating her as such, and is highly unusual since most people are very adamant that they aren't insane. I also know that even though the psychiatrists down in Denver believe this to be a coincidence, the person in the room next to hers killed himself minutes before she tried."

Jean shook her head. "Poor girl."

Professor Xavier handed Mrs. Webber back the file. "Well, I don't believe anything can be accomplished by standing out here. Shall we?"

Mrs. Webber nodded and unlocked the door, pushing it open so that Jean could wheel the Professor through. As she did so, Scott following behind, Kaylie froze in her pacing, staring at the trio with wide hazel eyes as though she'd never seen anything like them in her life. "I'll wait outside," she heard Mrs. Webber say as the door shut behind them. She took a seat next to Scott and watched as the Professor wheeled himself up to Kaylie, offering a hand.

"My name is Professor Charles Xavier," he said kindly as Kaylie eyed him suspiciously. "Are you Kaylie?"

"Are you another therapist?" she asked him, folding her arms as though trying to protect herself.

"No. I am a teacher," Professor Xavier explained patiently. "A principal, if you will."

"Then yes." Kaylie reached out towards his hand, but withdrew before actually making contact. Her eyes flitted over the professor to land on Jean and Scott, and she tilted her head at them curiously. "Who're they?"

"I'm Jean and this is Scott," Jean introduced with a glance over at Scott to see if he minded her introduction. His slight shrug told her that it was fine, and so she looked back at Kaylie and smiled gently. "We're teachers too."

Kaylie frowned at Scott. "We're not allowed to wear sunglasses indoors."

"I have to."

"Why?" Kaylie asked, eyes narrowing in confusion. "What happens if you take them off?" There was a moment of silence before Kaylie nodded, wincing. "I agree. That's bad. Better not take them off then, or Mrs. Webber will get mad."

Before Jean could do much more than give Scott a confused look, Kaylie turned her attention back to the professor. "Why are you here?"

"I am here to talk to you," he replied calmly. Kaylie let out a short laugh devoid of humor and crossed her arms again.

"Why talk to me if you're not a therapist or a doctor or a psychiatrist?" she demanded. "Why would anyone want to talk to me? I hear voices, so many voices, and I can't tell what I'm thinking sometimes because it's _so loud_!" Her voice rose to a shriek at the last two words and Jean stood up, eyes wide at the same time that Scott did. "I don't know what I think, I don't know what I feel, I don't even know who I am!" Kaylie backed up against the white wall, body tense and eyes wild. "They won't stop! They never stop! It's all just random and it doesn't make sense and I can't tell what I'm thinking half the time so I have to say it out loud so that I can keep track!"

"Kaylie," Professor Xavier said quietly. Kaylie ignored him.

"Why don't my voices tell me to do things?" she demanded, leaving the wall in favor of standing in front of Scott, hands clenched into fists. "If I'm a schizo like everyone says, why don't my voices tell me to kill people or set fire to things or steal stuff like everyone else's? Why?" Kaylie turned to Jean and her voice rose another decibel. "It's as if I'm listening in to five hundred different conversations and none of them make sense and nobody knows I'm there! _They don't know I'm there!_"

"Kaylie," the professor said again. This time Kaylie acknowledged him, turning to look at him, body shaking in her plain clothes. "Come here."

Obediently, quietly, Kaylie walked over to him and cringed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, pushing red hair out of her face.

"When did they first say you were crazy?" the professor asked quietly. Jean watched as Kaylie shuddered, reluctant to reply. Finally the girl opened her mouth to say, "Just after the fire. I was thirteen."

"What happened?" Jean asked from behind Professor Xavier, daring to take a small step closer. Kaylie shrugged.

"I don't know. The firefighters said it was an electrical fire. The wiring in our house was really old."

"Did the fire burn down your house?" Scott wanted to know. Kaylie nodded, eyes on the floor.

The somber mood in the room might have lasted for quite a while longer if Kaylie hadn't straightened and stared at the wall behind Jean with a look of utmost confusion on her face. It lasted for a second before her face fell and she sighed, plopping down to sit on the floor, legs crossed. She propped her chin in her hands and shook her head sadly. "I hate chili," she moaned. "They always put in too much pepper."

"Kaylie, you're changing the subject," the professor said.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

Kaylie let her hands fall into her lap and stared up at them. "And I thought I was doing such a good job of it." There was a slight pause before she directed her gaze to Professor Xavier. "I'm not gifted, I'm crazy," she told him. "Why come to me about your school?"

The professor nodded at Jean and she stepped forward kneeling next to Kaylie. "The professor's speaking to you telepathically, Kaylie," she told her. "He believes – and Scott and I agree – that you are a mutant."

Kaylie stared at her. "Telepathically?"

"Yes."

This news seemed to shock Kaylie. Her eyes widened, her face went white, and she slowly turned to look at the professor. A clump of red hair fell in her face but she ignored it, remaining motionless. For several minutes there was no movement in the room, until Kaylie gave a small nod, and Professor Xavier leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of her head. After a few moments, he withdrew and Kaylie looked around the room in wonder. "They're gone," she whispered. "The voices are gone."

Professor Xavier nodded. "I can't keep those blocks up forever," he warned her. "You're going to need to learn how to block them out yourself."

Kaylie nodded fiercely. "I know. Believe me, I – wait." She frowned.

"What is it?" Jean asked.

"I can still feel them," Kaylie muttered after a moment. "It's still there. It's a lot better than it was before, but they're still there."

"The voices?" Jean asked.

"No," Kaylie replied, shaking her head. "Those are gone. But…" She trailed off, looking worried. Jean looked at Professor Xavier, who shook his head. "Later," he told them firmly. "Kaylie?" She looked up and nodded.

"I want to learn," she said, voice quiet. "I don't want to be crazy anymore."

Jean stood and offered the girl her hand. Kaylie looked at it for a moment, then accepted it, allowing Jean to help her to her feet. Now that Kaylie was standing and the tension in the air was gone, Jean was struck by just how short the teen was. At sixteen years old, Kaylie's head barely came up to her shoulder, and Jean wasn't all that tall herself. Kaylie didn't seem to notice the distinct height difference between her and nearly everyone else in the room, instead retrieving her hand and turning to look at the professor. "If I hadn't agreed, would I have had to come anyway?" she asked.

The professor sighed. "Your situation is unique," he started. "In most cases, no, we would not force you to go someplace you didn't want to be. However, your mind is on the tenterhooks of insanity. It's not because of you," he added as a look of horror flashed across Kaylie's face. "It's because you hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of everyone around you. That sort of confusion in your mind would be enough to drive anyone insane," he finished kindly.

"But I'm not crazy?" Kaylie asked uncertainly.

"Definitely not," Jean told her firmly. Kaylie looked at her, then at Scott, who nodded, then finally back at the professor, as if asking for confirmation.

"Jean's right, Kaylie," Professor Xavier said. "I saw your mind. There isn't a seed of insanity in there, except for what people have driven you to believe and the confusion of everything you hear and feel."

"You'll teach me how to control it?" Kaylie whispered pleadingly, looking up at Jean.

Jean nodded. "Of course."

As Kaylie looked at her, a look of hope and disbelief on her face, Jean did the only thing she could to reassure the girl: she offered Kaylie her hand. Kaylie stared at it for a moment as though she'd never seen anything like it before, then smiled and gave Jean a brief hug that she broke off almost as soon as she'd started. Stepping away to stand in front of the door, Kaylie looked at them all, a tremulous smile on her face.

"So, when do we leave?"

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_A/N: Welcome to the end of the first chapter of Playing With Fire! I know, Kaylie's personality's all over the place right now, but consider where she is and what her power is (which shall not be revealed for those of you who havn't figured it out yet). At this point, she's pretty much a ball of emotion and disconnected thoughts. She'll settle down next chapter. Promise. Anyways, this is my first attempt at an X-men fanfic and feedback would be much appreciated since I'd like to know if I'm doing it right. Oh, and if you can guess what Kaylie's powers are, you get a virtual cookie! _


	2. Mutant High

_Disclaimer: Oh, if I were rich..._

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Professor Xavier sighed behind his desk. Kaylie had just arrived at the school, and though she was currently undergoing a quick lesson in blocking with Jean, he was worried about her. Over the years he'd had many different mutants with different backgrounds and stories come to learn or seek refuge at his school, but he had never run into a situation like this. If he was quite honest with himself, it was a surprise that this sort of thing hadn't happened before, considering the nature of telepathy.

If they'd found her sooner and given her training when her powers first emerged, Xavier wouldn't have been nearly as concerned. As it was, her particular background would make it incredibly difficult to teach her exactly what she needed to know. Not only would she have to learn to control her abilities, but Kaylie would have to regain her sense of self, something she had lost during the three years in the mental institution. He had seen her mind, had seen the mental and emotional confusion she felt.

It was a very good thing they had arrived when they did. There was no doubt in Xavier's mind that if she'd been left where she was for much longer, there would be no going back. She would have been lost, and no amount of training would have been able to help her.

However, they had come in time. Kaylie might not have been fine, but she would be. It would take time, but she could still learn to control her abilities and rediscover who she was, rooting her own personality and self with the help of the other students that lived at the school. Over the years, Xavier had discovered that friendship, companions, were incredibly important to whom one was as a person, and he was hopeful that as Kaylie learned, she would make friends here that would help her on the bumpy road to recovery.

The pile of essays on his desk demanded Xavier's attention. The paralyzed professor took a red pen from a drawer and began to read over the top paper, putting the new student from his mind. Worrying about the girl would accomplish nothing; she would be fine. A horribly misspelled word earned a red note on the paper, and Xavier bent over the pile, mind on the 'Ethics of Telepathy Usage' paper he was grading.

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Kaylie really hadn't had much to pack. All the institute had allowed her to keep when she'd been admitted had been a few outfits, most of which she'd either worn out or outgrew during her hospitalization. The only item of clothing she still owned from then was her jean jacket with green lining, the only item of clothing (besides her pj's) that she'd managed to save from the fire. Everything else had been bought for her to wear by the institute, which meant that it was all bland, in shades of beige and white, none of which she'd wanted to bring with her when she went with Professor Xavier and the other two teachers to their school; however, Mrs. Webber had made her pack it all.

When she'd gotten to the school, Professor Xavier had removed the blocks on her mind, letting a flood of emotion and thoughts enter it. Ms. Grey, or Jean, as she'd asked to be called, had immediately put up a barrier on her mind, but not before Kaylie had let out an involuntary shriek at the familiar, yet sudden, sensation of hundreds of thousands of thoughts rushing about in her mind. That had attracted the attention of a group of students that Mr. Summers, or Scott, had shooed away as Jean led her inside and brought her to a secluded room, where she'd lifted the barriers and given Kaylie a crash course in blocking her mind. After she had deemed Kaylie proficient enough to hold her own rather weak barriers for a day, Kaylie had been given directions to her new room where her new roommate was apparently waiting.

Now Kaylie stood in front of her new room, drinking in the sight of the plain wooden windowless door. It had been such a long time since she'd seen a normal door with a normal brass doorknob. "Fantastic," she breathed, opening the door slowly, reveling in the fact that it was unlocked.

Kaylie stood in the doorway, content to stand there and stare at the room. Color coated each of the walls, brilliant shades of green and purple, with yellow trimmings. Posters depicting what looked like bands added to the décor of the colorful room. There were two beds, two closets, two dressers, and numerous throw pillows and a bright red beanbag thrown haphazardly around the room. One of the beds was covered with a bright, striped comforter with a matching pillow, while the other was plain and neatly made. On the colorful bed a girl wearing a green jacket, jeans with random colored patches sewn on, and a red miniskirt lay, drumming her heels clad in flats against a purple stripe of blanket. Kaylie recognized her as one of the girls in the group that had noticed her when she'd arrived and her cheeks flamed red in embarrassment.

"Um…" She searched for something to say, only to feel muted surprise touch her mental shielding as her voice jolted the teen on the bed out of her thoughts.

"Oh, hey!" The girl sat up and swung her feet off of the bed. She rose and walked towards Kaylie, holding out her hand, smiling. "Name's Jubilee. You're the new kid, right?"

Kaylie nodded, a smile of her own creeping onto her face, accepting Jubilee's hand and shaking it once before letting go. "Yes. I'm Kaylie." Her eyes flickered back to the room once more. "Finally, color," she whispered.

Jubilee laughed. "Most people don't like coming in here. I've had Rogue tell me more than once that my room looks like a rainbow exploded in it."

"It's amazing," Kaylie told Jubilee firmly. "I haven't seen this much color since – it's been a while," she finished lamely. She received an odd look for this and she sensed a flicker of confusion come from her new roommate, but it passed as quickly as it came.

"So," Jubilee started. "I'm supposed to give you a tour of the Institute – what's wrong?"

The word 'institute' had caught Kaylie by surprise and she flinched. She felt concern push its way through the myriad of emotions that pulsed at the edge of her mind and a hand touched her shoulder. Kaylie instinctively pulled away from the touch that reminded her all too much of the touch of a concerned therapist. "I'm okay," she quickly reassured Jubilee. "I'm sorry. What were you going to say?"

Jubilee gave her a searching look and Kaylie shivered under the gaze of the older girl. "Well, I can give you a tour now or you can get settled in this mess of a room," she finally said, waving a hand back at the colorful bedroom. "What'll it be?"

"Explore," Kaylie replied instantly. Jubilee grinned.

"Come on, then." The older teen closed the door and motioned for Kaylie to follow her as she started off down the hallway. Kaylie followed, eyes taking in the polished wood floors and walls as she walked. "It's so different here," she murmured quietly.

"Good different or bad different?" Jubilee asked, half-twisting to look at the petite redhead.

"Good different," Kaylie replied, a sort of half-smile on her face as she remembered stark white walls and the jangling of keys. "Very much so."

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"This place is confusing," Kaylie declared after fifteen minutes of following Jubilee through a maze of hallways. Jubilee shrugged.

"It does take some getting used too," she allowed. "If your brain's stuffed full with directions that you're going to forget in a day, would you like to take a look around outside? It's nowhere near as confusing as inside."

Kaylie was fully aware that her jaw dropped a good inch, but she really didn't care. It had been years since she had been outside – walking into the school didn't count. She had been ferried inside immediately and hadn't gotten a chance to look at the grounds. "Yes!" she exclaimed as soon as she remembered how to speak. "I miss the sun," she added plaintively, much to the confusion of Jubilee.

"Okay," she replied slowly, leading Kaylie through another hallway that brought them to the front foyer. Kaylie stared at the impressive double doors that she hadn't had a chance to admire earlier. Jubilee pushed open the doors and walked outside, leaving Kaylie to do the same behind her.

Kaylie blinked in the bright sunlight, trying to adjust to the sudden increase in light. "Bright, bright, bright," she muttered to herself, shielding her squinted eyes with her arm. After a moment she let her arm drop and her eyes widened as though her brain had completely forgotten the bright sunlight that flooded into them.

Green grass, plenty of leafy trees, a basketball court, and, thankfully, a thick, white cloud that had just passed over the sun, which was the only thing allowing Kaylie to actually look around without being blinded. Kaylie stared at it in awe, trying to look at it all without falling over, something she was dangerously close to doing as she twisted in place in an attempt to see everything. "Sun!" She grinned, flung her arms up into the air and raced down the steps, miraculously managing to keep her balance, and flopped down onto the grass, tilting her face up to the sky, eyes closed. "Wind! Grass!"

"All typical of the outdoors," she heard Jubilee agree. A shadow passed over her eyelids and Kaylie opened her eyes to see said teen standing over her, hand held out as an offer to help her up. "How long has it been since you've been outside anyway?" she asked as Kaylie took her hand and used it to pull herself to her feet.

Instead of answering, Kaylie gave Jubilee a sunny smile. "Thanks." Nothing would ruin her good mood now. Not even the terrible sunburn she was positive she'd have by the end of the day. She wasn't about to guarantee instant depression by explaining how long it had been, which would inevitably lead to the question why. She had no intention of going inside until she was bodily forced to – either that, or until it got too cold for her to be outside anymore. "Isn't this fantastic?" she asked, not really expecting an answer, spreading her arms wide and relishing the feel of the wind blowing through her hair.

Jubilee was spared the conflict of deciding whether to answer or not by the arrival of a group of people. Kaylie watched as one girl detached from the relatively small group and jogged forward to come to a stop in front of Jubilee, brunette hair swinging in her ponytail. "You're really hard to track down sometimes, you know that?"

Jubilee smiled. "It's a gift," she answered simply, then pulled Kaylie forward, who had been hanging back behind her, having recognized the group of kids as the group she had accidentally caught the attention of earlier. "This is Kaylie. Kaylie, meet Kitty."

"Oh, hey." Kitty held out her hand for Kaylie to shake. Kaylie tentatively took it and shook, before letting go, allowing her hand to fall to her side. "You're the new kid, right?"

Kaylie nodded. "I'm sorry about earlier," she tried, only to see Kitty shaking her head.

"Don't worry, you didn't interrupt anything actually important," Kitty reassured her. "All you did was stop John and Bobby from arguing. Again." Kitty waved back at the people behind her, most of whom were inching up steadily, in a generic fashion, making it impossible for Kaylie to tell who she meant. "For people who are supposed to be friends, they sure do argue a lot."

"Yeah, you've known each other for what, three years?" another girl piped up. She had a distinct Southern drawl and dark hair with white locks of either side of her face. Kaylie peered past Kitty to get a better look and noticed that not only was she wearing gloves, but her clothes covered most of her body, something Kaylie was certain wasn't a good thing in the warmth of the sun.

"Isn't that hot?" she asked curiously. A part of her mind really wanted to ask how she'd gotten white in her hair when she couldn't be more than seventeen, but the nearly-sensible side of Kaylie's mind clamped down on that question before it could actually be asked. If she wasn't willing to explain personal things, she couldn't see why a complete stranger would be willing to.

The teen shrugged. "You get used to it. Name's Rogue."

Kaylie was about to reply when a tall boy pushed his way to the front and stared down at her, smirking. She met his gaze, then followed his body with her eyes, taking in the old jeans and faded T-shirt. "So," he said after a moment. "The new kid's a midget."

"John!" Kitty reached forward as though to slap him, but he sidestepped easily.

"I'm not a midget," Kaylie insisted. John raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "I'm not! You're just really tall."

Silence filled the air, a silence that was quickly broken by Kitty's giggles. Jubilee broke down next, and soon even Rogue had joined in. A kid in the back was grinning. "She got you there, John," Kitty said, fighting back a grin when John shot her a glare. "You have to admit, she got you there."

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_A/N: O.o. Usually I don't use emoticons in my A/N's, but this definitely calls for a: O.o. Seven alerts?! Wow. Just....wow. Only three reviews, but that's still a much better response than I thought I'd get for this story. HeeHeeHee01, you officially get a virtual cookie. I've got chocolate chip and oatmeal. Take your pick. So, here's chapter two, and Kaylie has somewhat settled down. She's by no means back to normal, but the mental blocks are helping a lot. This chapter was originally supposed to end just after Kaylie said "Very much so." but I decided to be nice and give you a longer chapter. What thinkest thou? SOOOO now that I'm done babbling, please review? All reviewers get a slice of virtual pie!_


	3. An Unusual Reaction

_Disclaimer: If I owned X-men, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction about it, now would I?_

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Kaylie wasn't entirely sure why they were laughing. What she had said was the truth – she knew she was short, but it was also true that John was taller than the other people he apparently hung out with on a regular basis, if only by a few inches. Their laughter didn't make sense. Amusement tickled the edges of her shield, but it was a good natured humor, the sort that she hadn't run into for years and could just barely remember. It was making it very difficult to keep her lips from twitching into a smile of her own. The only thing that was holding her back was concern for John. She had been laughed at too many times to do it to someone else, especially to their face.

"Are you guys done laughing at my expense yet?" John demanded. Kaylie frowned, narrowing her eyes at the teen in confusion. Though his words were angry and irritated, the feelings that brushed her mind said otherwise. He was slightly irritated, yes, but it was mostly exasperation.

"Does this happen a lot?" Kaylie asked Jubilee, trying to make sense of the conflicting emotions she sensed.

Jubilee stifled the rest of her giggles and nodded. "All the time. John's just the unlucky victim today."

"We'll always be laughing at your expense," Rogue teased.

"You should be used to it by now," Kitty agreed through her dying giggles.

Kaylie watched, puzzled, as the banter continued. "I don't get it," she finally said, voicing the thought that had been running through her head for the past few minutes, an expression of complete bafflement on her face. She pushed wind-tangled hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear in a futile effort to turn the curious looks she had received at that statement away.

"Get what?" John asked.

Kaylie immediately felt intense embarrassment, an emotion that was mirrored by the deep flush on her face. "This." She spread her arms wide and gestured to the entire group. "I don't…" Kaylie trailed off, unable to voice her confusion. Shame, embarrassment, and distress battled for domination; none of them succeeded. A familiar sensation of concern that didn't match at all with her current emotions touched her shields, accompanied by an unfamiliar hand on her shoulder. Unable to take it any longer, Kaylie backed up, turned, and ran into the school.

__

She was short. Very short. John felt perfectly justified in calling her a midget, even though her response had earned him the honor of being the butt of a joke. In all honesty, it hadn't been that funny, more unexpected than anything, but tensions were still high from the argument that had been cut off. Not diffused, cut off. The opening for a joke was all that was needed to diffuse the tension. Of course, it also provided John with another opportunity to continue his argument with Bobby. Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for him, the others caught him up in a banter session.

When the new girl had spoken, stating that she didn't understand, John had felt it necessary to ask for clarification. Everyone else was confused too. Now, if she'd said something like that in physics, then her comment would have made sense, but she hadn't, and it didn't.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. After a few attempts to explain whatever it was she was thinking, she had fallen silent. Kitty had put her hand on her shoulder, but what was intended as a comforting motion had backfired. The new kid had run off into the school building without a word. John watched her retreating form as she flew up the stairs and slipped inside after struggling with the doors for a moment, then absently slipped his lighter out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it. Whatever else she might be, the girl was fast.

"That was weird," he commented.

Jubilee frowned. "She did the same thing earlier. I said something and she cringed. Then when I touched her shoulder, like Kitty did five seconds ago, she flinched and backed away."

"Maybe it has something to do with her power," Bobby suggested. He had opted to remain mostly silent during the entire time the group had been near the new student, for reasons John couldn't fathom. That was okay. It didn't particularly care anyway.

"Probably." Jubilee sighed. "Would you stop clicking that thing?" she asked, directing the question to John.

John glanced at her, then at his lighter. Slowly and very much deliberately, he flicked the lighter open, clicked it on, clicked it off, and pushed the lid back on with a snap. Jubilee glared at him. "I'm serious."

"I don't care."

"You," Rogue informed him, "are irritating."

He grinned at her. "Did you just now figure that out?"

"Okay, guys, knock it off." Jubilee ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "I'm going to go inside and find Kaylie. Maybe if I take her to Professor Xavier he can explain what's been going on."

"Oh, is that her name?" John asked, surprise coloring his voice. Kitty gaped at him.

"Were you even listening earlier?" she wanted to know.

"You expected me to actually pay attention?" John shot back. Jubilee rolled her eyes and waved back at them, tossing a, "Later," to them as she headed back towards the school. John rolled his lighter in his hand, considering the events of the day, ignoring the lecture Kitty and Rogue were jointly giving him. Suddenly he snapped the lighter shut, pocketed it, and turned around to cut the girls off with a few well-placed comments, starting up yet another argument. Whatever was going on with Kaylie didn't concern him, interesting though it may be.

__

She was lost. Utterly and completely lost.

Actually, in all fairness, Kaylie knew exactly where she was; she was standing in front of the library. What she didn't know was how she had gotten there and how to get anywhere else.

When she had fled from the others, all she had thought about was escaping, as she always did when confronted with things that she couldn't explain. During her time at the mental ward, counselors had talked to her, trying to get her to explain exactly what she heard. At first she tried, but as time went on, her explanations got more and more muddled, and as they never understood what she was talking about anyway, she had fallen into the habit of ignoring them and refusing to answer their questions. It had been difficult to try to explain the confusion she had felt, especially since she sensed that there was nothing there that should have confused her.

It had been the interactions between the friends that had confused her. Kaylie couldn't remember the last friend she'd had, and she didn't know how friends usually acted with each other. Was the behavior she had witnessed normal? She just didn't know. The fact that she had been unable to explain her bewilderment around people who thought she was perfectly normal had only served to heighten her emotional turmoil.

"There you are!" Kaylie turned, startled, to see Jubilee coming up behind her. "What happened back there?"

Kaylie lifted her arms in a hopeless gesture. "I don't think it would make sense even if I could figure out how to explain," she replied honestly, letting her arms drop to dangle uselessly at her sides. "Sorry."

Jubilee shook her head. "Don't apologize," she rebuffed, giving the redhead a slight push in the back to get her walking. Kaylie stumbled, but quickly regained her balance and went down the hallway with Jubilee as the older girl continued to talk. "It can be pretty confusing here for the first few days, especially since everyone here has a different story and a different power. It can be…" she searched for a word. "Interesting."

Kaylie nodded, lost in thought. "Um…" She looked up at Jubilee. "What can you do? If that's okay to ask, I mean," she added hurriedly.

"It's fine. I can fire psionic blasts from my hands." Jubilee raised her hands in front of her face and wiggled her fingers. "I won't do it here though. I'd break something. You'll see what people can do in the Danger Room."

"Danger Room?"

"Sort of like a holodeck, if you've ever seen Star Trek?" Kaylie shook her head. "Well, anyways, it's a pretty neat place. It makes holographic images that seem real – you can touch them and everything. It'll make more sense once you see it."

"I guess," Kaylie said dubiously. She highly doubted a place like that would make sense. As a matter of fact, she didn't want to go there at all. Things that weren't real but felt real? It would be like being at the institute all over again.

"Here we are," Jubilee stated, interrupting Kaylie's thoughts. Kaylie stared at the door that they had stopped in front of. A plaque was nailed to it, engraved with the words "Professor Charles Xavier". "This is Professor Xavier's office," Jubilee explained unnecessarily.

_Now_ Kaylie was lost. "Why are we here?"

There was a slight pause filled with uncertainty before Jubilee said, "I just think it's a good idea for you to talk to the Professor. You know, get your schedule and stuff like that."

She had something else she wanted with Professor Xavier. Kaylie was sure of it. Her tone of voice, the hesitation before she spoke – it was all too familiar to a girl who had been lied to for three years by countless therapists and psychiatrists. However, whatever Jubilee's underlying agenda was, she was right. Kaylie didn't have her school schedule yet, something she assumed she would need. Schedules had been a strict part of her life for the better part of three years. There was no reason that would change now.

"Okay then," she agreed, and pushed open the door.

__

Jubilee followed Kaylie into Professor Xavier's office and closed the door behind them. She was glad to see that the professor was sitting behind his desk. His head was bent over a stack of papers, and in his hand he held a red grading pen that scratched against the surface of the essay he was grading. "Professor," Jubilee called softly, respectfully, just to get his attention. He looked up. "Kaylie needs her schedule," she explained.

"Of course," the professor agreed, setting down the pen and opening a drawer in his desk. Kaylie stepped forward to receive the paper he held out. "This is your course schedule. I presume that your studies were interrupted by the arrival of your abilities?"

Kaylie nodded. "They didn't put a lot of emphasis on learning."

The meaning of those words escaped Jubilee, who could only look on in confusion as Professor Xavier nodded. "I imagine not. You will need to meet Jean in the same room you were in earlier for your control lessons."

"Okay."

"Professor," Jubilee interrupted, "Could I talk to you for a minute? Privately?"

She was uncomfortably aware of both the professor's and Kaylie's eyes on her. Suddenly, Kaylie looked away, studying her sheet intently, as though embarrassed to be caught staring. After a long pause, the professor nodded. "Kaylie, if you would wait outside?" he asked, not unkindly. "Jubilee and I should be done in a moment."

"All right." Kaylie put her hand on the doorknob, then turned towards Jubilee. "Thanks." She smiled, then left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Jubilee turned her attention back to the professor, the silence of the room pressing in on her. Professor Xavier did nothing to break the quiet, instead allowing Jubilee time to gather her thoughts and prepare herself for the questions she was about to ask.

"What's going on, Professor?" she burst out. There went all her planning. Jubilee grimaced, angry at herself, but knowing it was too late to change what she'd said. "Kaylie's been acting really strange. Is it because of her past or her powers?"

Professor Xavier sighed. "I should have anticipated this." He straightened the papers on his desk into a neat stack and Jubilee scowled.

"You're stalling," she accused, but without heat. "Can't you tell me what's going on?"

"I can't." He held up a hand to forestall the protests that leaped to Jubilee's tongue. "Kaylie's past is her own business. I will not betray her confidence. When she is ready to share, then she will. Suffice it to say that her situation here is unique."

"What about her powers?" Jubilee asked.

Professor Xavier smiled. The action was unexpected, and it startled Jubilee. "I suspect that if you simply ask her, you will find out. Have I answered your questions satisfactorily?"

It was Jubilee's turn to sigh. She fidgeted with the lapels of her jacket, trying to get them to lay straight. "I guess," she finally answered. "It's just worrying, the way she's been acting."

"Just give her time, Jubilee. She will explain eventually."

With that, the professor picked up his pen and took a paper from the stack. Taking this as a signal that question-and-answer time was over, Jubilee thanked Professor Xavier, turned, and left. Kaylie stood outside the door, waiting. "How did it go?" she asked.

Jubilee looked at her roommate. "It went okay," she answered. There was a moment of relative silence before Jubilee broke it with, "So, what exactly do you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Powers," Jubilee clarified. "What are your powers?"

The question lit up Kaylie's face. The slightly worried and mostly curious look she had been wearing switched to one of joy with hints of mischief. "I'm psychic," she replied. "Telepathy and empathy only though. I can't move things around with my mind." She shrugged. "Oh, well."

"Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You sense emotions and hear people's thoughts?"

"I have shields up!"

"And you're disappointed you can't move stuff with your mind?"

"Um…" Kaylie shrugged as she thought. "Not really. But you have to admit, that would be awesome."

Jubilee grinned and nodded. She didn't know what was going on with Kaylie, and it would probably be quite some time before she did, but she knew that Kaylie was her friend, whether the petite psychic knew it or not. "That it would."

* * *

_A/N: Each of my chapters is longer than the last. Weird. Anyways, in case you're confused, the POV's go like this: Kaylie, John, Kaylie, Jubilee. You're going to see stuff like this a lot, so I really hope it's not too confusing. Yes, John has decided that though this is interesting, he really doesn't care. Oh, John, how your mind will be changed... I'm evil and cruel. This chapter was originally supposed to be much lighter, without Kaylie fleeing the group, and I was actually going to have her meet Bobby, but I changed my mind because it wasn't going right. I still think this chapter's a little awkward but, eh. I'll let you guys decide how you like it. So, I gave you guys pie last time, and your flavor choices are cherry, pecan, pumpkin, and apple. Reviewers for this chapter get virtual doughnuts!_


	4. A Chance Meeting

_Disclaimer: The answer is the same as it was last chapter: I don't own X-men. I own Kaylie, though._

* * *

_Kaylie let her sunshine yellow backpack fall into a corner as she kicked off her shoes, then carefully put them into the closet so that she wouldn't be scolded. The house was fairly empty, as it always was, with the exception of the smell of brownies wafting from the oven and her mother bustling in the kitchen, cooking dinner and after-school snack. _

_"Hi, mom," Kaylie said as she seated herself at the table and watched her mother cook. The busy woman, besting her daughter in height by only half a foot, had her bright red hair bundled into a tight bun, her body much plumper than Kaylie's twig-like one. _

_"Kaylie!" She turned and smiled, holding a pan of brownies in mitted hands. "How was school today?"_

_"It was okay. Mr. Jameson gave us a paper to write though." The thirteen year old fiddled with the edge of her brilliant green sweater before saying, "And…" She hesitated._

_Her mother, using the senses only a mother could have, set down the knife she was using to cut the brownies and went over to the table, pulling up a chair next to Kaylie and sitting down. "What is it? Did something happen?"_

_"Not really…" It was clear from her tone that she was reluctant to speak. Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder._

_"What is it?" she repeated, softer this time._

_"Madelaine Hendricks left," Kaylie finally said, staring down at the expensive oak table, part of a set that her great-grandmother had once owned. "Everyone says she moved, but two days ago she was being bullied at lunch and the light bulbs in the lunchroom exploded."_

_"All of them?" her mother asked, surprise in her voice._

_Kaylie nodded, then looked over at her mother. "Mom, why do people hate mutants? I mean, they're still people just like you and me."_

_Her mother shrugged helplessly, but there was knowing in her eyes. "People are scared of things that they can't explain or don't understand. We fear things that are different from us."_

_Kaylie considered this for a moment, thought furrowing her brow as she traced mindless curlicues on the table. "It's not fair," she said quietly, but venomously. "They're people, just like everyone else. Nobody should have the right to shun another human being just for being different. It's not their fault they're mutants."_

_"I agree with you," her mother replied. "However, your father and brother don't, so –"_

_"I know, I know," Kaylie interrupted wearily. It was clear that this warning had been repeated over and over to the young teenager. "Don't talk about mutants around them."_

_"Good girl." Her mother rose and retreated back into the kitchen, signifying the conversation was over. "Do you want a piece?" she asked, offering the tray of brownie. Kaylie looked over and shook her head._

_"No thanks," she replied politely. "I'm going to go out back for a bit."_

_Her mother nodded, unseen, at her back as Kaylie stood and headed for the back door. She let herself outside and just stared at her surroundings for a while before heading over to the large aspen tree. She took a branch in hand and swung herself up as though she were a monkey, climbing nimbly up to the upper branches. The petite redhead sat when she got to a fairly comfortable forked branch and stared out at the road behind her house. "Not fair," she repeated to herself. "It's just not fair…"_

Kaylie's eyes blinked open and she stared at the royal purple wall that looked more dull purple-black in the dim light of predawn shining in through the crack in the curtain that covered the fairly large window in the room she shared with Jubilee. She didn't move, except to pull the plain sheets closer around herself. Being early spring, it wasn't very cold or very hot, but the dream that she had had made her feel colder, as if a chill breeze had blown through the room. The dream she had just had was no dream, but a memory, and one she hadn't thought of for the better part of two years. She had tried, she had truly tried to hold onto all memories of her old home at the institute, but no matter what she did, they had all trickled away until all the was focused on was desperately trying to keep hold of whatever sanity she had left.

Madelaine Hendricks had been Kaylie's first real brush with mutants. She had been one of Kaylie's friends, not a best friend that one could tell everything to, but a friend that one knew well enough to sit with at lunch and tease a little bit. The memory of Madelaine leaving school when her mutant powers showed themselves had likely reared itself because Kaylie had caught a glimpse of her former friend in the large lunch room the school boasted. She hadn't gone up to greet her though, mostly because at that moment the bell had clanged and Kaylie had left for her biology tutoring.

When Kaylie had gotten her schedule, she knew that her situation was far different than most people. Her schedule was tutoring session after tutoring session, some of them with Jean, some with Scott, and some with a white-haired young African woman named Ororo, but most of the students called Storm. For the first time she was aware of just how much she had missed during the three years she had been locked up in the institute. Three years of schooling, for starters, which meant that she was only at about ninth grade level when she should have been halfway through her junior year by now.

Of course, when her schedule didn't dictate the make-up classes that she was speeding through (which was giving her three times the homework of anyone else, but being done so that she could catch up that much quicker) she had actual training in her abilities. This task was split by Jean and Professor Xavier, who she also saw for ethics. She was learning more about her powers, and though her shields were still weak and shaky, they were very much improved over what they had been at the beginning of the week.

Schoolwork and training wasn't all that had happened to her that week. After seeing the clothes she owned, Jubilee had told her that she needed new clothes and that there would be no arguing with her. When she had gotten back to the room after her lessons, Kaylie had found a mound of color sitting on her bed, all clean, old clothes given to her by Jubilee, Rogue, and Kitty, who had gone through their closets finding things that weren't white or beige for Kaylie to wear.

She had also finally met Bobby when she'd been standing in line for lunch and he'd approached her and introduced himself, apologizing for John's rudeness. "He's my best friend and he's a moron," Bobby had explained. "He doesn't apologize either, or at least, not often, so I thought I'd go ahead and do it for him since nobody else was going to."

She hadn't actually seen all of them together since the day that she had met them, but she had at least seen each of them at some time during the week. Kitty tended to visit after classes most days, and of course she saw Jubilee every day since they shared a room. Rogue was a bit trickier to pin down, but Kaylie had talked to her a few times since they'd met. She had the feeling that Rogue didn't know quite what to think about her and that the few meetings they'd had were mostly Rogue trying to figure her out. Kaylie silently wished her luck; it would take skill for anyone to figure her out, especially since Kaylie couldn't figure herself out – or at least, not yet. Aside from the time Bobby had introduced himself, she hadn't talked to him, but she noticed that he tended to be in the company one of two people, Rogue or John. She hadn't talked to John at all, and had barely seen him, except for a few times in the hallways or sitting at a table in the lunchroom. He was usually alone, expect for the few times that he was in the company of Bobby, Kitty, or Rogue, and sometimes she would see him talking to another teen guy that she didn't recognize, but was huge and muscular.

Kaylie sighed and slipped out of bed, heading for her closet. It was painfully clear that she wasn't going to get any more sleep, despite the fact that it was a Saturday morning. After changing from her too-short pj's tht she stubbornly clung to despite the fact that they were three inches too short into a green T-shirt and a pair of jeans that were only marginally large and her worn sneakers, Kaylie left the room as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake up Jubilee.

During the week that she had been at the school, Kaylie had learned to navigate the halls with relative ease. For the first few days she had been ferried around by Jubilee, but now, days later, she was mostly able to walk the school without getting horrendously lost. She still got turned around from time to time, but it was very infrequently. Now Kaylie walked along the halls vaguely, not entirely sure where she was heading, uncomfortably aware how loud her footsteps sounded in the deserted hallways.

When people were sleeping, Kaylie had discovered, courtesy to several nights where she had had difficulty getting to sleep, their emotions were dulled. They still touched the edges of her shields if she were close enough, but they were mostly the sleepy contentment of someone who was having a good rest. The emotions heightened and changed if the person were in the midst of a dream, especially if that dream were a bad one. But for the most part, when others were asleep, Kaylie didn't feel any more emotion than faint contentment, something that she was infinitely grateful for, since it gave her time to think without having to deal with hundreds of emotions crowding at her mental walls.

Which was why she stopped in front of the rec room as she was about to pass by it. Someone was in there, someone wide awake and thinking about something that was making them profusely unhappy. Kaylie opened the door as quietly as she could and peered in, only to see John sitting in one of the large, comfortable chairs that sat around the rec room, fiddling with something in his hands. The door creaked as she opened it, and John lifted his head sharply. When he saw her standing there, his mouth twisted into a sort of half-frown. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Kaylie cringed. The unhappiness she had felt earlier hadn't gone away, but it was now coated with a thin layer of anger, as though he was angry at being found, but his heart wasn't into it. Kaylie let herself into the rec room, though she still held the door open, and shrugged. "Nothing. I couldn't sleep and I felt you."

"Felt me?" His voice was full of disbelief. Kaylie nodded.

"Well, not you, exactly," she admitted. "I'm empathic. I just felt your feelings."

This didn't seem to comfort John. He stared at her suspiciously. Kaylie shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, directing her own eyes to the floor as embarrassment sent a flood of heat to her face. She knew that if she had been in his shoes, she wouldn't have wanted somebody pointing out that they knew exactly how she had been feeling, especially since those feelings hadn't been pleasant ones.

"I have shields up though," she offered quietly, still studying the carpeting as though it had a fascinating design or a bug crawling across it. "I probably wouldn't have felt it, except that everyone else is sleeping." She sighed and looked up. "I'm not helping, am I?"

"No," John told her firmly. "You're not."

He stood up and put something in his pocket. "I don't like the idea of people rummaging around in my emotions," he said.

"That's why I have shields up," Kaylie explained. "Well, that and I don't want to hear everyone's thoughts either." She stopped herself quickly, but it was too late. The damage had been done. She looked over at John worriedly, but to her surprise he didn't look any angrier than he had earlier.

"Telepathic?" he asked. When Kaylie nodded, he smirked suddenly, totally startling the short psychic. "Should've guessed. Jubilee was hinting at something like that yesterday."

His emotions were conflicting and storm-like, whirling around, battering against her shields. There was still anger and lingering traces of unhappiness, but now they were joined by acceptance, irritability, and a few others that Kaylie couldn't identify. "You're a very confusing person," she finally said.

John looked surprised at that. "I don't think that word's ever been used to describe me before."

"Well, you are," Kaylie repeated. Curiosity struck then, and though she had a feeling she would regret asking, Kaylie asked, "What words to people usually use to describe you?"

John shrugged. "Temperamental, asshole, stubborn. Not that it's any of your business."

"Those aren't very nice words."

"I'm not a very nice person," John said bluntly. After a moment, Kaylie stepped to the side and John gave her an odd look before leaving the rec room. His footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor. When they had faded into nothingness, Kaylie let the door close and flopped over onto the large black couch, thinking about what had just occurred.

* * *

_A/N: This chapter was hard to start. I don't even know why. It was easy to write though. Yes, I time-skipped a week since I didn't want to write it all out and nothing important happened anyway. John and Kaylie have finally had a real conversation, Kaylie has old-new clothes from people, and she has to catch up to the rest of her grade. Yikes. Lots to take in, huh? And the million-dollar question: Was the chapter any good, especially since I started it with a dream/memory, and I'm always wary about doing that in case I screw it up? Anyway, so I offered doughnuts last chapter, which come glazed, chocolate, sprinkled, and eclairs. This chapter, I appease those of you who see fit to review with cupcakes._


	5. Fascination

_Disclaimer: I own a pair of Snoopy socks, just not X-men._

* * *

John was having an absurd amount of difficulty deciding how to feel about his encounter with Kaylie. It was ridiculous, really. All she had done was walk into the unofficial hang-out place of the school and had somehow managed to cut through the memories that had threatened to suffocate him with a few simple sentences. What was really strange was the fact that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing – and he knew, because nobody could fake the pure emotion that had spread across her face as she'd talked. Though she had accused him of being confusing, he felt that he had every right to stick that same label on her.

As John turned a corner, he scowled at nothing. He hated it when people tried to read him and find out how he was feeling or what he was thinking. It was one thing when he told them outright; it was another entirely when they poked and prodded him for information. While Kaylie hadn't exactly done that, what she had done was far to close for comfort. At least she hadn't pressed him for information. She hadn't even mentioned what she had felt, but John was no fool. He knew how upset he had been, and even someone who didn't have empathy would be able to tell.

His feet took him to a door. He stood there for a moment, then opened it, walked into the room he shared with Bobby and flung his pillow at the sleeping boy's face. Bobby mumbled incoherently for a moment before pulling the pillow off his face and dropping it on the floor. John flopped onto his bed as Bobby turned to look at him and graced him with a tired scowl. "What?"

"It's time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty," John teased, sitting up and smirking.

Bobby stared at him. "What time is it?" he eventually asked.

"Six thirty, I think."

There was silence in the room before Bobby narrowed his eyes into an approximation of a glare and spoke. "You're waking me up at six thirty."

John raised his hands in a mock defense. "Hey, if I can't sleep, then you can't either."

"Just how long have you been up?" Bobby wanted to know, yawning. John didn't answer, instead choosing to stand up and retrieve his pillow from the floor. A very uncomfortable silence filled the air until Bobby broke it by muttering, "This has got to be inhumane."

John's roommate swung himself up out of bed and staggered off to the bathroom. When the sound of running water reached his ears, John kicked the corner of his bed, picked up his basketball, and left, ignoring the throbbing of his big toe. Self-inflicted pain wasn't a hobby of his, but the conversation from earlier was still fresh in his mind and he needed something to distract himself from it. He didn't like being uncertain, and he didn't like being confused, and those two emotions were forefront on what Kaylie had managed to evoke in him.

__

Half an hour later, by count of the clock ticking away on the wall, Kaylie stretched and stood up. The couch was comfortable, but she hadn't moved for the past half hour, and she felt stiff. Thankfully, it only took a few stretches to get her body feeling normal again.

She wasn't exactly hungry yet, so Kaylie decided that she would head outside. It had been a while since she had been able to be outside and enjoy the freedom that the wind and the sun gave her, as the week had been filled with lessons and homework and mental training, all of which conspired to make her exhausted at the end of the day. Today, however, she felt wide awake, despite waking up at six. It was a perfect day to go outside and wander the school grounds.

The blast of cold air that greeted her when she opened the door leading outside nearly changed her mind, but it died down almost immediately. Though the sun had risen, it hadn't been up long enough to burn off the night chill. Goosebumps rippled to life on her exposed arms, and Kaylie briefly contemplated going back to her room to grab her jacket, but decided against it. After all, if the two students sitting at the base of the steps were wearing the same sort of clothing, then it was likely to get warmer very soon.

She hadn't expected to see anyone she knew out here this early in the morning, but if she were quite honest with herself, it was no surprise that John had claimed the basketball court as his own. Kaylie drew closer to the court as the teen bounced the orange ball on the ground a few times before tossing it at the hoop. The ball hit the edge and bounced back, eliciting a touch of irritation from him. All in all, he was much calmer than he had been when Kaylie had talked to him earlier.

As she approached, he glanced over at her. She could feel a flash of anger, then something like resigned acceptance before he turned his attention back to the basketball in his hands. Kaylie hesitated momentarily before going up to the side of the cement and seating herself in the slightly dew-damp grass. "Why is it orange?" she finally asked, pointing at the basketball when John shot her a confused look.

He glanced down at the ball in his hands and shrugged. "No idea," was his short reply, before he threw it at the hoop again. This time it rolled around on the rim twice before teetering off the hoop the wrong way.

"I'd say it's so that it's easier to see it, but a football is brown," Kaylie continued on the train of meaningless thought. "Tennis balls are usually bright green though, so I don't –"

"Why are you here?" John interrupted. The look on his face made it clear he wasn't talking about her reason for being at the school.

It was Kaylie's turn to shrug. "Boredom?" she hedged. At John's glare, she hastily corrected herself. "I like it outside and you're the only person out here who I've met."

"Go meet someone else, then."

Kaylie considered it for a moment, then stood. Over the past week, she had learned that Rogue stole a person's energy and power if they were a mutant simply by touching them, Kitty could walk through walls, and Jubilee had told her that Bobby could create ice. "You know what powers I have," she pointed out logically. "It's only fair that you tell me what you can do."

"That's one hell of a conversation leap, midget."

"I'm not a midget," she countered swiftly. "And it's a valid point." A flash of anger caught her attention and she turned to look at the source; a pair of arguing teens that ended when one of them stormed off in a huff. The click of a lighter and the familiar sound of fire flaring up behind her caused her to whirl around in a panic to verify that the school wasn't burning down to the ground.

__

The look in her eyes was nothing less than sheer terror. Her body had tensed, and her skin was pale. It looked as though he had inadvertently triggered her 'fight or flight' response by flaring up the lighter flame to a ball that hovered above his hand. "Fire manipulation," John said unnecessarily. "You did want to know what I could do."

Kaylie stared at the fire, horror etched across her face. He was about to let the fire disintegrate into nothingness, but she shook herself briskly and walked closer, peering at the fire in fascination rather than fear. "This is the fire from your lighter," she stated.

John nodded. "As I said, fire manipulation. Not that hard to figure out where it came from."

She considered it for a moment, hazel eyes narrowing in thought as she absently tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. "I wonder… Can you change the heat, or just the size?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" he demanded. Kaylie turned her attention from the fire to his face and shrugged even as he forced the orb to vanish. He crossed his arms over his chest and aimed a glare at her. He was positive she knew that he wasn't really irritated, but all the same, he wanted some kind of smokescreen to put up against the slight, grudging admiration. She had, after all, seen the fire that clearly had brought back some terrible memories and after that had gone up to it and started asking questions about his ability.

Strange, perhaps, but admirable.

"It doesn't. I'm just curious," she told him cheerfully.

"You do realize curiosity killed the cat," John shot back, a smirk tugging at his lips. He picked up the basketball at his feet and shot it over Kaylie's head into the basket. It bounced off the backboard and through the hoop.

"But I'm not a cat," Kaylie replied, moving off the court as he went to pick up the ball, confusion tainting her words.

John's hint of a smirk came in full force as he backed up and tossed the ball at the hoop again. "It's called a figure of speech, doofus." The ball hit the rim and teetered for a crucial moment before falling off the edge.

"I'm not a doofus either," Kaylie retorted from the sidelines.

John grinned at her. "Consider it a passing insult."

"You're right," Kaylie said after a moment. "You aren't a nice person."

"Gee," John said, placing the hand not holding the basketball over his heart in mock surprise. "What gave it away?"

That brought a smile to Kaylie's face. "I'm going to go eat now," she informed him, turning to leave, one hand raised in a wave. "See you later."

John watched her leave. Breakfast did sound like a good idea, but there was something he wanted to do first. Facing the hoop, he bounced the orange, eye-catching basketball three times, before aiming and tossing the ball at the hoop. It hit the backboard, fell onto the rim, rolled twice, and fell through the hoop. "Finally!" John exclaimed. His goal met, he picked up the basketball, then followed the short redhead's path into the school.

* * *

_A/N: You people have no idea how hard this chapter was to write. I kept on getting stuck and I'm not fond of the writing.... argh. Jubilee and a few others were meant to appear, but... Again, argh. I know, I know, this chapter is really late and shorter than the other chapter. Feel free to murder me with whatever utensil you have on hand -- though if you do that I won't ever be able to update again, so I'd advise against it. So, this chapter was meant to introduce Kaylie's fascination with mutant abilities and to show how John feels about her at this point in time. I hope I did a good job on getting inside his head; I imagine that the little conversation they had last chapter would leave him very confused. Anyway, you guys all get virtual sugar cookies for putting up with this horrendous wait. Those of you who review can get lollipops. Sound good?_


	6. Confrontation

_Disclaimer: I have not, and never shall, own X-men._

_A/N: I know I normally put the A/N at the end of the chapter, but all of you deserve the fair chance to destroy me now for waiting two years to update. Two. Years. And this chapter isn't worth a two year wait (even if it was a lot of fun to write... once I finally got around to writing it, that is). If I have any readers left – well, then you guys are fantastic, far too patient, and I do not deserve you. Please feel free to decapitate me with whatever objects you have at your disposal. Also, free candy hearts and V-day chocolate to anybody who reviews! And happy Valentines Day, everyone!_

_And now, since it has been two years, here's a quick recap of the last five chapters: Kaylie Croft was placed in a mental institution following a terrible house fire that she was caught in. Three years later, Professor Charles Xavier comes to take the young mutant away to the Institution so her mind can be saved, as she is both a powerful telepath and empath. Once there, Kaylie is put into a room with Jubilee, and finds another friend in Kitty. Drawn towards John Allardyce after feeling his emotions after a nightmare, Kaylie tries to befriend him, but finds the task difficult, particularly after discovering that he can manipulate fire._

* * *

"Checkmate."

Kitty grinned triumphantly as Kaylie sighed and tipped over her king. "You always win," she complained cheerfully. "How do you always win?"

"Yeah, Kitty," Jubilee drawled from her spot on the couch where she was reading some sort of magazine, slipper-clad feet propped on the back of the couch. Long, stripy socks reached up to her knee, where rolled-up sweats rested comfortably. "How _do_ you always win?"

"I'm just that good," was Kitty's response. Kaylie and Jubilee simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"That's because you're playing against somebody who has no idea how to play, Pryde," Jubilee said, swinging herself up to sit properly. She wrapped an arm around Kitty's shoulder. "Try playing against somebody who can actually tell the difference between a pawn and a knight – no offence, Kaylie."

"None taken."

"And then see if you win," Jubilee finished, ignoring Kitty's dirty look. Without even waiting to be asked, Kaylie stood up and stretched tactfully, sensing Jubilee's desire to play chess through her flimsy shields. A flash of hurt quickly followed by indignation and determination pressed against her mind, and it took her a moment to distinguish Kitty's particular 'feel'. Though she'd been at the Institute for several weeks now, it was still difficult for her to tell one person from another just by their emotions unless she was really concentrating. She tried an apologetic smile in the direction of her friend. From the softening of Kitty's features before the teen turned her formidable glare on Jubilee, she'd done it right. "You don't have to leave, you know," Jubilee added as Kaylie accidentally tripped over the leg of the pool table on her way out of the rec room.

"I am so sorry!" Kaylie bit her lip and pushed away from the pool table that Peter was using, face pink with shame. He accepted her apology with an easy smile and a 'that's okay'. "I'm tired," she explained to Jubilee. "If I stay here much longer I'll fall asleep."

"That's an understatement." Kaylie jumped and turned to see John leaning against the doorframe. He sniggered at her reaction, which told her that he'd been there long enough to see her embarrassing stumble into the pool table, if not longer. "Sleepwalking, midget?"

"Um, no," Kaylie stammered, taking a step back. Unfortunately, this led her to bump into the pool table again. John smirked at her as she yanked herself away from the game and pressed a hand against her temple in a futile attempt to get his amusement out of her head. "It's not funny."

He raised one eyebrow at her. "Actually, it is."

"It's not!" she insisted, glaring at him. John pushed himself off of the door frame and folded his arms across his chest, returning the glare with equal force. Kaylie could feel the eyes of the other teenagers on her – and presumably John – in curiosity at the drama. An exaggerated sigh came from Rogue as she presumably pulled her boyfriend's attention back to the movie.

Kaylie gulped, but didn't look away, despite the uncertainty that had started to creep into her eyes. Something fluttered in the back of her mind and she slammed back at it with her shields, hoping to make the unwanted emotion go away, but failed. As the feeling grew, Kaylie shuddered and tried to order her eyes to break the contact, but failed miserably. She was trapped.

"Come on, guys," Jubilee said, evidently trying to diffuse the tension. "Some of us are trying to play chess."

"Hey, I didn't start it," John defended himself, turning to glare at Jubilee. "Shortie over there did."

"You popped up out of nowhere and – and –" Kaylie covered her face in her hands as she started to stutter. "Never mind. Forget it."

She drew a shaky breath and dropped her hands, determined to at least attempt to salvage her pride and leave the room without further incident. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to my room."

Forcing herself to walk, Kaylie tried to push past John, only to have his hand descend on her shoulder before she could walk completely past him. "Hey." She swallowed as he stared at her, his hand preventing her from leaving. A faint emotion battered ineffectually at her shields, repelled by the much stronger feeling that raced through her body as his grip tightened unconsciously. "You okay?"

Frozen, Kaylie tried to reply in the affirmative. Her eyes met his again, muted concern meeting – what? Finally, after what seemed like forever, Kaylie tore away from John and skidded out of the room, her footsteps thudding down the hardwood floors. The beat of her pace was matched only by the beating of her heart and the emotion that she had desperately tried to hide from herself for the past few weeks.

* * *

As Kaylie raced out of the room as though fire roared at her heels, John could feel the intense glares of Jubilee and Kitty trying to bore holes through his back. "What?" he demanded, turning to face the two girls, both of whom were already on their feet.

It was Jubilee who replied. "What the hell was that?" she wanted to know, crossing her arms.

"How the hell should I know?" John retorted. His anger flared; were they seriously going to blame this incident on him? "How is it my fault that she's being all friendly one week and avoiding me like the plague the next?"

"Think hard, Allardyce," Jubilee retorted. "You must have done something to scare her off."

"Me?" John started, all ready to defend himself, but the look on Kaylie's face as he'd shown her his ability flashed back into his mind unwillingly, and the teen paused. As much as he hated to admit it, her reactions certainly made sense when looked at in that way. He groaned his frustration and stalked out of the room, clicking his lighter once before shoving it deep into his pocket. Having that thing out might be comforting to him, but it certainly wouldn't help the situation any.

It took him a while to track the psychic down. Part of it was because she wasn't in her room, which was the only place that John really knew of, but it was mostly because John was stubborn, and he refused to ask any of the mutants wandering the hallways if they'd seen a short redhead fleeing for her life. Finally, however, he got something. An inkling of fear in the back of his mind, a foreign emotion that most certainly wasn't his that pulsed from the vague direction of outside.

"Moron," he muttered, slipping out the back door and following the strength of the emotion. He stopped by a large tree and rolled his eyes, keeping the terror under control only by the knowledge that it wasn't his. "Hey. Midget," he called quietly. "You're leaking."

For a long moment there was no reply. Finally a tremulous, high-pitched "L-leaking?" came from up in the pine.

"Yup. Leaking. How did you think I found you?" he wanted to know conversationally, sitting down at the base of the pine. He didn't look up at Kaylie, despite the fact that he could hear her shifting in the branches and breaking twigs.

"Sorry." The apology was no more than a whisper. John shrugged.

"Whatever. You might want to talk to the professor about it though," he advised casually, shoving one hand into his pocket to fiddle with his lighter. "You don't really want to terrify the whole school, do you?"

The twigs stopped crackling above him. After a moment, Kaylie asked, "C-could you move please? I'm coming down."

He snorted, but humored her. It was a few seconds before she slid down the tree and landed at the base in an ungainly heap. Embarrassment painted her cheeks a rather cute shade of pink, but he didn't let himself think about it. Instead, he just offered her a hand, which she stared at for a moment before reluctantly taking it and allowing him to yank her to her feet unceremoniously. She pulled her hand back as soon as she was on her feet and stared at the ground. "Sorry," she said quietly. "It's not – I just –"

"I'm creepy. I get it."

"No!" Kaylie shuddered. "You aren't. It's just that every time I close my eyes, all I can see is fire…" A shiver rippled through her, despite the warmth of the evening, and her eyes took on a glazed look. Horror crept up John's spine, and, irritated, he poked her hard in the shoulder.

"You're doing it again," he informed her tartly.

Kaylie started and shook her head, but the chill in his body went away. "You really need to talk to the professor," he muttered, heading back inside. After only a couple seconds, Kaylie caught up to him. "So," John started, idly pulling his lighter out and fiddling with it. "Think you can put up with me even if I do play with lighters?"

"I… think…" Kaylie sighed. "I think I can try?"

"Good enough for me. Just keep your guard dogs off me. It's always the guy who gets blamed when a girl's upset."

She laughed softly. "I think I can manage that."


	7. Forming a Connection

_Disclaimer: No ownership here!  
_

* * *

Hours later, John sat on a stool in the small student's kitchen that some students preferred to use instead of the big lunchroom, elbows on the counter as he flicked his light on and off. Across the island was Bobby, eating an unusual sandwich of his own invention. John didn't want to know what was inside it, and quite honestly, as long as Bobby didn't talk, he really didn't care. He'd come here to think, not chat.

"Don't stay up too late." Bobby yawned and tossed his dish in the dishwasher as he rose. John made a face at him.

"I'm not five."

"Did I say you were?"

"You sure as hell implied it."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "So touchy, geez. Look, I just don't want you to wake me up in four hours when you finally decide it's time to sleep. Besides, we have physics tomorrow." He paused in the doorway and looked over at John. The late hour was clearly affecting him, John noted as a large yawn nearly split his face in two. "Remind me why we're friends again?"

John shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." He waved his closed lighter towards Bobby and smiled. "Go on, get your beauty sleep. I promise I won't wake you up."

With a nod and a, "Night," Bobby left, footsteps echoing somewhat eerily in the quiet of the mansion.

John returned to his thoughts with little difficulty, idly twirling his lighter in his fingers. This wasn't usual behavior for him. Usually he was trying not to think about something, rather than intentionally reliving the events of the day and trying to sort them all out. Oh, the events themselves had been simple enough, but the way they had played out was… strange, to say the least. Never before had anything like this happened before, and John found that he was having a very hard time figuring out just what to think of it all, which was why he was here in the first place.

To be more specific, he was trying to figure out Kaylie. She was an odd one, that was certain. Terrified of fire, yet willing to try to befriend him anyway (and he wasn't exactly the easiest person in the world to get along with), so open with her own emotions but so bad at reading them in others despite her empathy, and so very uncertain in how to act around other people. He'd seen her display her lack of knowledge in this area since the very start, ever since she'd uncertainly shaken Kitty's hand.

It was so weird. _She_ was weird. John frowned and clicked his lighter on. "You make zero sense, midget," he muttered to the flames.

"I'm not the one talking to myself," Kaylie pointed out. John turned, surprised. He hadn't even heard her show up. Seeing that her eyes were transfixed on the lighter flame, he heaved a very exaggerated sigh and clicked it off. Her own sigh was one of relief as she edged her way into the room and, after a moment of looking around, chose to perch on the counter next to the sink.

"Thanks. You know, for turning off your lighter."

He ignored the thanks. "Maybe I should call you monkey instead," John commented as Kaylie scrambled up the counter.

She made a face at him, shifting slightly as she tried to make herself comfortable. John was very glad to see that despite the late hour, she hadn't changed yet. He had no idea what she wore for sleepwear, but whatever it was, he really didn't need to see it, especially not if she was going to be climbing everywhere. The teen scowled and slammed down on the curiosity that tickled in the back of his mind, knowing full well that it was his and his alone. Now was not the time.

Besides, she probably wore sweats or something boring like that anyway. He scanned her critically, and decided that her curves or lack thereof weren't anything to get excited over.

…Maybe Bobby's early bedtime had some merits. He was obviously way too tired to be up if his thoughts were acting like _this_.

"How many demeaning nicknames are you going to give me?" she wanted to know.

"As many as it takes for me to find one that fits."

She shook her head. "You're crazier than I am," she muttered under her breath. John's eyebrows rose.

"Excuse me?"

Red suffused her cheeks and she shook her head violently, whipping red hair about her shoulders. "Nothing!"

He snorted. "Sure. Why're you up this late, midget? It's almost –" he glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Scratch that. It _is_ midnight."

She scowled at him. "I have a name, you know," she informed him, brushing long strands of hair from her face and running her fingers through it, wincing when they presumably snagged on knots. John didn't answer, amused, and after a moment she sighed. "I'm… having trouble sleeping."

"Join the club," John muttered before smirking at her. "So, what? You came here for therapy to help you sleep?"

To his surprise, Kaylie jerked and nearly fell off the counter as her eyes flew open in what he could only describe as shock. He watched, baffled, as the girl managed to catch herself and scooted back on the counter, drawing her socked feet up to rest on the counter. She reminded him of a spooked wild animal, or maybe a frightened abused dog. Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to control her breathing. A flash of panic slammed into his mind, nearly knocking him off his chair before it vanished. "Don't," she said, "ever mention that again. Ever."

Muted fear came out in her words. John stared at her for a long moment, then nodded slowly. At the reassurance, Kaylie relaxed, folding her torso over her knees and closing her eyes. After a moment, she said, "I'm going to talk to Professor Xavier in the morning."

Deciding that if she was going to pretend as though nothing had happened it wouldn't hurt for him to do the same, John replied with, "Good. Any reason you didn't go tonight?"

Her shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "No reason."

"Liar."

She opened her eyes to give him a very mild glare; he smirked. A slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "It was late. Besides, it could wait another day. My other abilities waited three years, after all."

"Did they?" John asked casually, propping his chin up in his hand, pretending that he wasn't interested. By the look on her face, she hadn't fooled him one bit. A moment later, she confirmed it.

"Nice try."

It was his turn to shrug. "It was worth the effort." Catching the yawn before it got to his mouth, John got up, stashed the lighter away in his pocket, and went over to Kaylie. As he approached, she straightened and slid so that her feet dangled from the counter, which meant that for once she was looking down at him. It was yet another thing about the evening – night? Morning? – that was strange. "Want me to go with you tomorrow?"

"I should really do it alone," she hedged. He gave her look and her lips twitched, finally ending up in a slight smile. "I could use the company," she admitted.

John nodded. "Think you can sleep now?"

He could see her carefully considering the question, nodding faintly as she came to her decision. "Probab – ah!"

He smirked and set her down on the floor, having interrupted her mid-word by picking her up around the waist and pulling her off the counter. "Sweet dreams, midget," he told her, laughing quietly as she colored and buried her face in her hands.

"You're so weird," she said, voice muffled from between her fingers.

"It's part of my charm."

She let out a soft laugh before letting go of her face and bending over to pick up her shoes that she'd previously kicked off. "If you say so."

"I do say so."

They exchanged a smile – or rather, she smiled. He smirked. It was his trademark, after all. "Good night, John," Kaylie said before she turned to leave.

"Same to you, midget," John returned, flipping off the lights as he followed Kaylie out of the kitchen.

* * *

"So?"

Kaylie stopped, looking at John in confusion. "Have you been waiting here all this time?" she asked disbelievingly.

The mutant boy shrugged and got up from his slouched sitting position on the floor. "Nope." It was a bald-faced lie and both of them knew it, which worried Kaylie. It wasn't that John lying like this was uncommon, but she was pretty sure he'd had a class – which meant that if he really _had_ been waiting for her, he would have been skipping something. She opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and shut her mouth again. It was pointless anyway. No matter what she said about the matter, John would just ignore her and continue to do whatever he wanted.

Kaylie realized that she'd been giving him an odd stare, and quickly averted her eyes. "What did you skip?" she finally asked.

She could practically feel him roll his eyes. "Physics."

"Isn't that important?"

"Only if you care about putting incomprehensible math theorems to the test with potential and kinetic energy. Which I don't," was the annoyed reply. Kaylie frowned.

"Is that even what physics is about?"

John just shrugged carelessly. "Well?"

"…What?"

He rolled his eyes, gave an exaggerated sigh, and asked her pointedly, "What verdict did the professor give you on this leaking thing?"

Oh. Kaylie winced. She'd almost managed to forget all about that in the past two minutes or so. Whatever else he might be, John was a master of distraction. Amusement trickled past her shields, clearly coming from her companion. She didn't bother to look over to see if he was trying to hide it or whether he was openly smirking at her, and instead scowled at the floor. There wasn't anything remotely funny about this.

"Extra lessons," she finally admitted. "As if my schedule wasn't full enough."

There was a long pause as the male half of the strange duo considered this. "So, basically," he started in a tone that she was pretty sure meant he was trying to confirm something he already knew, "I shouldn't invite you to any pool parties for a while."

_That_ got Kaylie to jerk her head up and give him a stunned look. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't even fighting the grin on his face. He laughed. She flushed, less angry and more embarrassed by being caught by a really stupid joke.

"Idiot," he proclaimed. "Like any of us actually use the pool here. It hasn't been cleaned in years."

"Months," she corrected. "Nobody would ever leave a pool uncleaned for years, and I'm pretty sure this one sees some use?"

He just shrugged, neither confirming or denying her suspicions, but he radiated annoyance to her senses, probably at being corrected. "Whatever. Don't you have a class or something to get to?"

"No, that's you," Kaylie found herself replying. "I'm the one with the tutoring, remember?"

John shot her a glare, but it was tempered by a feeling that Kaylie couldn't quite identify tapping timidly at her shields. It wasn't a bad feeling, it was… admiration, maybe?

What?

"See you later," John tossed over his shoulder as he slouched down the hall, taking his lighter out of his pocket as he left and flicking it open. Kaylie shuddered at the sight and turned. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't been fiddling with it during their entire conversation. Could it possibly be because of the conversation they'd had last night?

No. Never.

The door behind her – the one that led straight to the office she had just exited – creaked ominously. Kaylie swallowed her yelp and took off. Even tutoring sessions were better than the possibility of detention.

* * *

_A/N: I still have readers. I'm honestly shocked. You guys are amazing. So, this chapter is mostly Kaylie and John, with some Bobby thrown in there to try to help define their friendship some more. There was also a late night/early morning conversation between our two protagonists, and Kaylie went to go see the Professor in the end. We'll see the results of that little meeting next time. Reviewers for this chapter get... hm... meringue and chocolate chip cookies. :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
_


	8. Disharmonic

_Disclaimer: I still don't own X-men. I don't even own the movies. How sad is that?_

* * *

Jean watched calmly as her young pupil struggled to push fear in her direction, the emotion she had directed her to project ten minutes ago. When the session had begun an hour ago, the girl hadn't had very much difficulty projecting wariness and distrust, but evidently the use of her powers was taking its toll on her. "Try again," she directed as Kaylie groaned and buried her head in her arms.

Annoyance lanced into her mind, and Jean sighed. "You're leaking again," she warned. Kaylie lifted her head and rubbed her temples with her fingers, squeezing her eyes so closely together that Jean's own head hurt in sympathy while the empath managed to reign in the feeling and floundered in her own mind for a few moments while she tried to grip at the special shields Jean had helped her start to figure out to keep the leaking from happening.

"My head _hurts_," Kaylie moaned, looking at Jean beseechingly. "Can we please stop for now? Please?"

The older redhead shot Kaylie a stern look that made the younger girl flinch and stare at the floor. "Our time isn't up yet," she reminded her in a voice that reminded her of how Professor X used to talk to her when she'd been slacking. The memory threatened to make her lips twitch upward into a smile, but Jean managed to suppress the urge.

"I know," Kaylie said, obviously too tired by the strenuous mental exercise she'd had to pick up and identify her amusement. "I just – please? I know I wasn't getting it that last time…"

"No, you weren't," Jean agreed. As Kaylie stared at her, despair and worry practically painted on her face, she reached forward to touch her shoulder reassuringly. "Kaylie – it's been three years since your power manifested and you're just now getting training. You have no idea how well you're doing. I don't know if I'd be doing as well in your place."

Kaylie jerked beneath her fingers, her expression changing to one of surprise. "Really?" she whispered.

"Really." Jean looked at her for a moment, eyes soft. This poor girl had been through so much over the past three years and now had to deal with the aftermath of it all. Playing catch-up to three years worth of studies was bad enough, but Jean couldn't even imagine the problems that came with trying to regain who you really were. The power control, however, she understood, and completely sympathized with. Her own lessons had been difficult and painful. It was just one of the problems that came with trying to harness immense power that you didn't quite know what to do with or how to control. "You've made more progress in three weeks than most kids do in three months."

"But I have to! I can't just let things be like they were before!" Kaylie cried.

"Exactly. Most of the other students here can afford to take it easy and slow. You can't, and you understand that."

A short silence fell while Kaylie digested this information. "Especially since now I can actually affect what other people feel," she finally said, somewhat reluctantly. She frowned slightly. "Does that mean that I'm going to get other… abilities?"

Jean rose from her chair and subtly stretched her back, sighing in relief as the tight muscles first protested the change in placement then relaxed into the new position. She'd been sitting in the same spot for about an hour, after all, and her body disliked that. "It's a possibility," she admitted. "New abilities related to the overall power that mutants have do show up from time to time."

"I don't think I like that possibility," Kaylie said after a moment of thought. Jean smiled.

"If it happens, we'll help you figure it out," she reassured the younger girl. That brought a smile out from the psychic.

"That's your job, isn't it?" was her gentle retort.

"So it is." Jean motioned for Kaylie to stand up. She did so, and the elder of the pair flicked her hand towards the door. "We're not going to get anything else done today. Go on, go relax. I'll tell Scott your algebra session is canceled for today."

That got the faint smile to expand into a full one. Understandable. Math generally wasn't the favored subject of most students. It certainly hadn't been her own. "Thank you, Miss Grey," Kaylie said gratefully, hand already on the doorknob. At her nod, Kaylie was out the door, red hair fanning out behind her as she practically raced away from the room. Jean chuckled faintly, but it died quickly. Touching on her own considerable power, she sent a little mental 'nudge' to Professor Xavier and sat down to wait for a response. It didn't take very long.

_How is she?_ the professor asked.

She considered her thoughts carefully before sending a reply. _Well enough, but I'm a little worried. _

_Oh?_

_Yes. _Jean paused for a moment. How should she put this?

_Whatever it is, I want to hear it now, Jean,_ the professor warned, obviously having picked up on her hesitancy.

_She's scared, _Jean sent as quickly as she could. _Something happened recently that dredged up some pretty bad memories. She's doing a good job of hiding it, but I think it'd be a good idea to keep an eye on her. The last thing she needs is to lose control because of some memories._

As she waited for a response, Jean Grey considered the possibilities that might have led to the dark hole she'd caught glimpses of while helping Kaylie start with her projecting. Mental touch was always a tricky thing, especially when one party didn't know how to conceal their thoughts. From what she'd seen, the darkness had been carefully hidden beneath a layer of what she thought was probably reason and logic, but it was definitely still there. What it contained was anybody's guess, though the flickering of color that Jean thought she'd seen led her to believe that fire was part of it. Her lips thinned as she pressed them together. If that was the case, then she'd be willing to bet that whatever was going on had something to do with John Allerdyce, a troublemaker of the finest degree.

She sent her suspicions to the professor quietly and sighed, folding her hands on top of the desk. Fire, fire… Now why was that familiar?

Of course. The fire that had burned down her house, the one that had triggered her power release in the first place had to be it. If that was the case, then seeing anything fire related might well have brought up the memories, and if that was true, then it was almost definitely John's fault. The professor's voice touched her mind and Jean instantly snapped to attention.

_I see, _was all he said. There was a long pause, during which Jean tapped her fingers against the table annoyingly. Finally, he spoke again. _She should be fine._

_But –_

_Keep an eye on her, _he recommended, cutting her off. _And sit down. _Chagrined, Jean sat back down into her chair, still tense. _Relax. There isn't anything anybody can do about what you saw except for her, and she'll handle it. There are memories she has to properly face in order to recover and that's one of them. Come, Jean, you know that!_

She shuddered at the rebuke. _Yes, but…_

_I understand. _His mental tone had changed from reprimanding to soothing, swelling in her mind like water against a parched throat. _I feel the same way. There are some things we can't help with, Jean, and this is one of them. Kaylie will be fine. Just give her time, and if she wants to talk, let her._

_As if I wouldn't!_

His reply came with the sense that he was smiling. _I know. Have a good day, Jean._

_You too, professor, _Jean replied, severing the connection afterwards. Well. She'd still worry no matter what the professor said, but… She'd be fine. Secure in that belief, Jean rose and left the room herself, intent on finding Scott. She needed a good cuddle, and with Scott's next lesson canceled, it wasn't as if he'd have anything better to do.

* * *

After nearly running into a student she didn't recognize, Kaylie slowed down into a much nicer walk, absently massaging her temples with her fingers in an attempt to sooth the headache that had sprouted in the past hour. She hadn't expected it to be that hard. Oh, she knew it was going to be difficult, but not like _that_.

Ow.

The bells rang and students poured out of their classrooms, leaving Kaylie to duck and weave her way through the crowds of excited kids talking animatedly about what they were going to do with their free time. Their emotions crowded against her shields, making her wince. She had to get somewhere where there weren't any people. Even an empty room would do. It just had to be somewhere quiet – or quieter, at least. She'd noticed that her mind had a very irritating habit of picking up on muted emotions no matter where she was, but at least if she was away from the physical noise it might be easier to get a handle on her headache. Maybe the library?

Yes. It'd be quiet there. She hadn't been there often, but the few times she had had convinced her that the harpy of a librarian had superhearing and wasn't about to let anything louder than a whisper go unpunished. Mind made up, Kaylie slipped out of the crowd and turned down one of the corridors that she thought would lead her to the quiet book-place.

Unfortunately, Kaylie had forgotten one small important thing: the location of the stupid place. Ten minutes of searching had gotten her nowhere fast, and now she made a small noise in the back of her throat, frustrated. "How hard can it be to find one room?" she wanted to know, pushing open a door and poking her head in, hoping to see lines of bookshelves.

What she saw instead was something much more welcome.

The room that she had stumbled upon appeared to be some sort of music room. A few stands stood around the large space, with various instrument cases lining the walls. Large windows let in floods of light, casting a cheery glow on everything she could see. Near the back of the room sat a nice piano, the top propped open and sheets of music resting on the built-in stand. "Wow," Kaylie breathed, letting herself in and closing the door carefully behind her.

Nervously, unsure if she was supposed to be here or not, Kaylie tiptoed her way over to the piano, reaching out to touch the wood reverently. "I bet you're a beauty," she whispered to it, sitting down gingerly on the bench that accompanied it. "I wonder if you're tuned?"

She pressed down on one of the keys, smiling in delight as a pure note rang through the air. "Very nice!" A glance at the music on the stand told her that the last person to use this instrument had been trying to play Tchaikovsky. She adjusted the sheets so that she could actually see the first page, peered at it, and winced inwardly. This was definitely some difficult stuff. It had been a while since she'd tried anything close to this level. Lately it had just been Christmas carols and old dance tunes, the only music that the institution seemed to own.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to try," she murmured, setting her fingers on the keys and hesitantly pressing them down as she frowned at the sheet music. She got through three measures at a super slow tempo before a sour note rang out.

Well. She'd just have to keep on trying, wouldn't she? Determined now, Kaylie refocused back on the music. With each note her fingers drew from the instrument she felt more at ease and more relaxed. Her muscle memory was definitely coming back. It wasn't long before she was managing to pick out the music (with her fair share of mistakes, granted, but at least it was recognizable) at a pace slightly faster than that of a dead snail.

She was so absorbed into the music that Kaylie didn't even realize it when the door swung open and a familiar figure leaned against the doorway, dark eyes fixed on her and the carefree smile she now wore. A few minutes passed, during which Kaylie's fingers fumbled for a chord, she muttered something under her breath and restarted the measure, and a smile twitched on the boy's face. With that he was gone, closing the door quietly behind him, the click of a lighter following him out.

* * *

_A/N: This chapter took too long to start. I'm sorry! So, not much happening here, and I'm sorry for that too. And there's only a hint of John… Sadness. Anywhosies, did you guys like the way I wrote the telepathy conversation? Was it understandable? Things should start heating up (pardon the pun) next chapter, and I'll try to get that up before next week. And, um, I hate to sound like I'm begging for reviews, because I'm not, but I do like to know why you guys read this, and I've been getting a lot of alerts and favorites, but no reviews, so I have no idea. I'll shut up now. Pastries for everyone, whether or not you review! I'll see you all next chapter!_


	9. Nightmares

_Disclaimer: Nine chapters in and I still don't own X-men._

* * *

"You play pretty good, midget."

Startled, Kaylie's hands slid on the keys, turning a previously lovely set of rhythms into a slurred mess. She snapped her head over to the doorway so fast that her ponytailed hair whipped around to slap her cheek as she stared in shock at John. He smirked at her and pushed himself off the doorway, closed the door, and walked over to lean on the edge of the piano. "Seriously. It sounds great."

"How long have you been there?" Kaylie demanded, voice shaking slightly.

He shrugged carelessly. "Not long." Kaylie stared at him for a moment before turning to stare at the sheet music.

"Please get off," she finally said, voice quiet. With another shrug, John pushed himself off of the piano and stood behind her, peering over her shoulder at the music. To him, the printed black notes looked like chaos on a page, squished together without rhyme or reason.

"It looks like my math homework," he commented lightly, hiding a grin as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"It's Bach."

"Yeah, well, it looks like scribbles to me," John replied honestly, turning away for a moment to snag an ugly plastic chair. He flipped it around and sat down, folding his arms over the back of the chair as Kaylie rolled her eyes and tried to get back to her playing, evidently determined to complete her self-given practice time despite his unwelcome presence. Her fingers started to dance across the keys again, drawing forth a lovely tune that was probably fifty times slower than it was supposed to be, but was beautiful nonetheless.

Ever since John had found her playing a week ago, he'd stopped by the music room after classes let out on the hunch that she would continue to show up and play, and his hunch had paid off, though she did show up an hour later than she had that first day. It seemed that the psychic had fallen into a pattern; after she finished her tutoring sessions she would find the music room again and play the piano. John liked music, even if he couldn't play an instrument to save his life, and in his personal opinion, Kaylie was pretty damn good at the piano, even if she was playing songs at the speed of a sloth.

Of course, he hadn't stayed very long to listen - he did have a life, after all – and he certainly hadn't come in before, but he figured it was about time that somebody tell her that she knew what she was doing. His eyes drifted over the keyboard lazily as the tune sped up to something more like the proper tempo. Annoyingly enough, her left hand was hidden by her back, and he scooted his chair more over to the side to get a better view.

"Are you listening to me?"

John started and looked at Kaylie's face, which was still facing the music, eyes moving from notes to hands as she fumbled her way through what must have been a difficult passage. "Nope. Sorry," he apologized, unrepentant despite his words. "What'd you say?"

She huffed, annoyed. "I _asked_ you how long you'd been watching," she repeated, making a face as her fingers hit a sour chord that rang loudly in his ears and made him wince.

"Not long," he replied easily. "Just a couple of minutes, really."

"That's not what I meant," he got as a reply as Kaylie repositioned her fingers and started up the music again. "I meant how many days?"

He raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see it. "What makes you think I've listened for more than today?" he wanted to know. "Got a pretty high opinion of yourself, don't you, midget?"

He expected to be ignored and for her to persist with her original question. He expected his light teasing to get nothing more than an eye roll out of her, maybe a smile if he was lucky. What he did not expect was for her to slam her hands down on the keys and turn to look at him, her entire face a picture of annoyance and unhappiness. "Tell me, do you even know what my name is?" she demanded, voice cracking slightly. "I don't think you've used it once. Not once!"

She was physically shaking, hands frozen on the piano keys as the echoes from the notes faded in the still air. John stared at her for a long moment before he got up, slowly changed the direction his chair was facing, and sat down in it properly, leaning towards Kaylie. "Your name is Kaylie," he started, catching her eyes with his own, willing her not to look away as her lip trembled. "You've got a problem with fire, a talent for playing the piano, and a real gift for befriending people. You've got two incredibly powerful abilities that nearly destroyed you and you're somehow managing to repair yourself."

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears; she blinked and the threat of them falling was gone, though the wetness in her eyes remained. "Your name is Kaylie," he repeated, and she sniffed, breaking eye contact to stare down at her hands, now laying limply in her lap.

Silence hung in the air, thick and stifling. Several times John opened his mouth to break it, only to close it again seconds later because he had nothing to say. The tension coiled itself into the pit of his stomach, making him feel incredibly uncomfortable as his friend tried to regain control of herself. Finally, he cleared his throat. "So. Want to tell me what's up?" he managed to get out.

Kaylie shook her head. "Just… had a rough day." She swallowed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Whatever." He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. "Any particular reason you're sneaking around to play?"

She looked confused for a moment, then smiled weakly as comprehension lit up her eyes. "I haven't played properly in years," she admitted. "Just Christmas carols and old dance tunes. Besides, I don't have a lot of free time, and playing is… relaxing. I like to unwind from my lessons doing this."

"And if you don't ask permission nobody can tell you no," John guessed, and smirked when she flushed.

"Yeah. That too," Kaylie whispered faintly.

He drew his lighter out of his pocket and twirled it idly between his fingers, ignoring the wary way that Kaylie regarded the steel device. "Just to let you know, nobody'll get pissed at you for playing in here," he told her, rising up from his chair. "And you should think about telling somebody. Not everyone's a snoop like I am."

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, John shoved his lighter back into his pocket and pointed mock threateningly at Kaylie. "You tell them or I will."

"Don't you dare!"

Instead of replying to that, he turned away and raised a hand in a wave. "See you around, midget."

Behind him there was a choking sound that finally resolved into muffled laughter. John cast a glance over his shoulder to see Kaylie bent over with her head in her hands. "Don't you dare," she repeated, choking through her laughter.

Even though she wasn't looking, or maybe because she wasn't looking, John stuck his tongue out at her and turned around quickly to hide his grin.

* * *

_She woke up coughing, blinking to try to get the gray haze out of her vision, but it didn't go away. Her bed creaked as she got up, squinting at her doorknob. Why was everything so gray? She reached out to touch the doorknob._

_A yelp escaped her lips as she drew back her hand hastily to stick a burned finger into her mouth. _

_Flames licked at the bottom of her door and she dropped her hand, shocked. No, no, her house couldn't be on fire, it _couldn't _be… Darkness enveloped her in her smoke filled room, the only light coming from the red and yellow flames that roared into being in front of her, eating at her carpet and swarming around her…_

_…Arms of fire reached out towards her, trying to grab at her sleeve… A scream echoed through the fire that had become her world, and it wasn't until a bout of coughing cut it off that she realized the screams were hers…. The timbers of the house rumbled threateningly, the deep roar of a monster that was going to eat her alive – before the roof collapsed, sending plaster and shingles and steel onto her body –_

With a strangled scream, Kaylie bolted up in bed, hands fisted in her covers, skin pale and clammy. Fear and horror battled for dominance inside her as she stared at different parts of the room, seeing but not seeing, heart beating so fast she was afraid it would explode, her mind still fixated on the fire that burned forever in her mind. Tears fell down her face and she bit her lip to muffle the sobs that shook her entire body.

It took her a moment to realize that a pair of hands were on her shoulders, and another moment to realize that Jubilee had drawn her into a hug and was rocking her gently, stroking her hair and shakily whispering, "It's okay, it was just a nightmare," into her ear. Giving into the horror and the fear, Kaylie broke down, wrapping her small arms around Jubilee's waist and sobbing into her shoulder, taking the comfort that was freely offered.

She didn't know how long she cried, only that when she finally stopped and drew back, she was able to see the room again instead of the burning house that had been her home. Jubilee drew a deep breath, and Kaylie stared at her. "You were crying," she croaked, pointing at the tear tracks on her face.

Her roommate nodded shakily. "You scared me," she replied quietly. "I mean, it's mostly gone now, but still, do you think you could maybe block it off?"

Kaylie's eyes widened and she pulled away from her friend in shock. Mentally, she felt for her special blocks. "I am so, so sorry," she whispered, pulling them up with some difficulty, shivering. "I didn't mean – I didn't want –"

"I know," Jubilee said simply, relieved. She looked at Kaylie, concerned. "What happened, Kaylie?"

She shook her head. "A nightmare –"

"It was obviously a pretty bad one. Are you okay?"

Kaylie swallowed. "No. I'm not," she admitted quietly. "I'm not okay, and I'm really sorry you had to feel that, and I'm sorry I woke you up. I really didn't mean to."

Jubilee sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You want to talk about it?"

"No," was Kaylie's immediate response. She bit her lip. "I don't. I need to, but I don't want to. I think – I think that if I don't talk about I'll be living in that fire forever and I can't do that. I can't. I – I-" she broke off and shook her head wordlessly. Jubilee nodded thoughtfully.

"I get it," she reassured the psychic. "Everybody here has a story, and most of us don't want to talk about it. Some of us never do. I promise I'll listen, if that's what you want."

Kaylie considered this, the words soothing the edges of her raw nerves, calming the unrelenting fear that refused to go away. She was actually able to think, and that was a great relief. "No," she finally decided. Before Jubilee could do more than open her mouth, she barreled on. "Not – not here, not now. I know I need to talk about it. I have to. But I can't do it here." She paused to gather her thoughts, to try and say the rest of what she needed to say coherently. "I – I need to tell all of you because you all deserve to know, and I can't tell it more than once. I can't."

She stared at Jubilee, willing her to understand, keeping a very tight grip on her shields to make sure that she wasn't sending anything out anymore. She'd already woken up Jubilee with her nightmare and had made her feel what she had felt. Nobody deserved that. It had to end, and it had to end now. Finally, Jubilee nodded.

"Who do you want to tell?" she asked quietly.

Kaylie drew a shuddering breath. "You and Kitty." She sniffed and wiped at her cheeks and eyes with her hand. "And John. I know you don't like him much, but I need to tell him too," she added hastily.

Unexpectedly, Jubilee smiled. "I don't dislike him," she corrected. "I just think he can be a giant pain in the ass."

Her lips twitched.

"All right, and what about Rogue and Bobby?" Jubilee pressed. "Are you going to tell them your big secret too?"

Kaylie shook her head firmly. "I can't. I just… I don't think I can do that. You guys can tell them later. Just don't gossip about it, please?"

Much to her shock, Jubilee reached across the bed and pulled her into a hug. "Me, gossip? Never. And I'll make sure the others don't either."

"Thanks, Jubilee," Kaylie whispered, returning the hug.

"You're welcome." The other teen let go and yawned widely. "Now. I'm going to get some sleep so I'm awake to listen to story time tomorrow. You should try to sleep too, okay?"

"Yeah," Kaylie said as Jubilee slid off of her bed and stumbled back to her own bed. "Sure."

With another deep, shaky breath, Kaylie lowered herself back down underneath the covers and pulled them up to her chin, staring at a spot on the wall, hoping against hope that the flames wouldn't come back again. It was a long time before she was able to close her eyes again.

* * *

_A/N: Well, I did warn you that things would get heated up! We see Kaylie and John talking in this chapter, a horrible nightmare that I completely failed at writing, and friendship bonding between Kaylie and Jubilee. In the next chapter we'll be getting story time from Kaylie. Excited? I know I am. It'll be a really important chapter. So, anywho, cake for all of you! I'll see you guys next chapter._


	10. A Historic Telling

_Disclaimer: Nope. Still. I know, it's sad._

* * *

When dawn peeked into the room the two teen girls shared, hoping to get a glimpse of life through the shuttered window, it was rewarded with the sight of one sleepless redhead, dark circles prominent beneath her reddened eyes. Her taller companion was uncharacteristically silent as she made her bed and pulled striped, fuzzy socks up to her knees. "Are you sure about this?" she asked her petite roommate.

"No," was the quiet reply. "But I need to tell you guys sometime."

Jubilee nodded, eyes dark with thought. Kaylie bit her lip and cuddled her knees to her chest as she sat on the middle of her still unmade bed. As much as the thought of telling her friends was relieving it was also frightening. What if they thought of her differently after finding out? They had to – her story wasn't one that left people thinking of her as normal.

"Here."

Something soft collided with the side of her head. Startled, Kaylie picked up the pair of electric blue fuzzy socks and looked over at Jubilee, confused. "What?"

"They're called socks," Jubilee teased. "Come on, put them on! Fuzzy socks make everything better."

"I don't know…" Kaylie held the pair up to her face and inspected them dubiously. "They're really-" she paused, struggling for an appropriate adjective. "bright," she finished.

"That's the point. Bright colors make for bright feelings," her friend said wisely. Kaylie stuck out her tongue, prompting a mock-gasp followed by a laugh. "Okay, seriously, they're really comfortable. And besides, they'll give you something to stare at as you tell your story." An emotion that Kaylie didn't recognize tickled in the back of her mind as Jubilee flashed a toothy smile and narrowed her eyes in a way that even she could recognize as evil. "Unless there's someone you'd rather stare at instead."

Kaylie frowned, her brow creasing in thought as she tried to decipher what Jubilee meant. Clearly the other girl was teasing; Kaylie wasn't dense, just a little out of touch. But what could she be teasing about? Stumped, she shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she admitted.

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "You're a wonderful person, Kaylie," she informed her, "but you really need to learn about boys and the appeal they have to us girls."

Kaylie's lips twitched. "I'm not that far behind," she pointed out, giving in to the temptation of the fluffy socks. As she pulled them on her feet, relishing the softness against her skin, Jubilee grinned at her. "These are really comfortable."

"Told you. Ready? If we're lucky, they might actually be awake."

"Wait. Let me try something first." Kaylie closed her eyes and focused inward, trying to distinguish the 'waking emotions' she felt. Despite her outburst last night, her training really had been coming along, and she was starting to be able to distinguish people she knew by feel. Jubilee's distinctive willingness to wait mingled with curiosity shone like a beacon; she ignored it and tried to sort through the other emotions. Professor Xavier was up – his tired reluctance slid smoothly past her shields. She didn't recognize the sleepy contentment, but it felt less child-like and more adult-ish to her.

After what seemed like forever, Kaylie finally sighed and opened her eyes. "I don't think they're up yet," she told Jubilee, who had migrated back over to her bed and was reading. At Kaylie's words, she looked up.

"Fifteen minutes of trance," the girl told her as Kaylie stretched, wincing as her legs cramped. "What were you doing? If you don't mind me asking," she added hastily.

"It's okay. I was just trying to see if I could tell if they were awake." At Jubilee's confused look, Kaylie tried to think of a better way to describe what she'd done. "Basically, people's emotions feel different to me if they're awake or asleep. I was sorting through the awake emotions and trying to see if I could tell who they were from. I figured I could do it since you three are the ones I spend the most time around."

"Cool. Did it work?"

"Sort of," Kaylie admitted. "I couldn't figure out a lot of them, but some of them I got. Mostly teachers, I think."

Jubilee nodded. "I guess that makes sense. So, do you want to wait, or do you want to go wake them up?"

Kaylie winced and Jubilee shrugged. "Okay, fine, we'll wait."

It was long past dawn before either John or Kitty woke up.

* * *

For once, John had been able to sleep for more than four hours at a time. With the exception of the weird middle-of-the-night wakeup call he'd gotten when a jolt of sheer terror had woken him up, his night had actually been pretty peaceful. When his body finally declared that he had enough sleep, light was streaming in through the blinds and the digital clock read 10:00. With a groan, he turned over and buried his face in his pillow, unwilling to get up. It was the lack of oxygen that finally convinced him that at least turning over was probably a good idea.

"Oh, good, you're up." Kitty barged in through his wall and tugged the covers off of him. "Nice boxers."

"What the hell!"

"Get over it and get dressed," Kitty replied flippantly. When John didn't move except to flip her off, Kitty rolled her eyes. "Come on! Kaylie's got something important she wants to tell us." She huffed. "I have no idea why she wants to tell you anything, but whatever. She says she'll only tell it once, so get up already."

With that, the mutant flounced out through his wall. John just stared at the spot where she'd left for a moment before calling, "I have a door, idiot!"

Kitty didn't reply. Annoyed, John fell back onto his bed, fuming. The one day that he had actually managed to sleep in and the girl had the nerve to barge into his room and interrupt his lounging around in bed time? "I should roast her," he muttered, reluctantly standing up and beginning the search for clean clothes. It didn't take long to peel off his shirt and yank a clean one over his head, but finding pants was another matter. It took at least five minutes for the bleary-eyed teen to find a pair of relatively clean jeans. Refusing to care about the state of his hair (it was easily the worst case of bedhead he'd ever had in his life) John stomped out of his room and glared daggers at the brunette who'd had the gall to drag him out of bed that morning.

"Ooh, so this is what the great and mighty Pyro looks like without hair gel," Kitty teased.

"You're lucky murder is illegal."

Kitty waved off his death threat. "So growly. Come on, let's go!"

John couldn't decide if it was bravery or stupidity that prompted Kitty to grab his wrist and start to try to tow him off. Whichever it was, she didn't last long as a tow truck; he pulled his arm away and followed her with narrowed eyes, keeping up a mental litany of insults as they traversed down the hallways, heading for that great place known as the rec room. As soon as they reached it, Kitty lost her good humor and quietly slipped into the room. With a sigh, John ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face before following her.

Kaylie sat at the very end of the couch. She'd pressed herself into the comfortable corner as though she were hoping it would swallow her whole. When she looked up, he could see that although she'd actually bothered to brush her hair, her eyes were undercut by dark purple. As was normal, she wore clothes that were probably muted hand-me-downs from Jubilee, except for the bright blue socks on her feet. Next to her was Jubilee, and beside her was the hellcat of a girl that had dragged him out here. "You look like hell," he told the redhead before sinking down into an armchair directly across from the bench.

"Hello to you too," Jubilee snapped.

Kaylie winced. "He has a point."

The eccentrically-dressed mutant's lips compressed into a thin line. "Whatever."

"Ignore him. He's grouchy," Kitty advised.

Before Jubilee could reply or John could retort, Kaylie stopped the upcoming argument before it could happen by nudging Jubilee in the side while simultaneously aiming an entreating look at John. Jubilee shut up immediately, but John folded his arms and inspected the haunted look his short friend wore before nodding. The psychic sighed and sank back into the couch, her troubled eyes dark. "You have to promise not to interrupt," she said softly. "I don't know if I can finish this otherwise."

Verbal affirmations came from the girls. John just looked at her. Evidently she caught onto his acceptance of this condition, for though she didn't respond to any of them, after a moment she began to speak. John started at her tone. He'd never actually heard anybody talk without any kind of emotion in their voice before.

"The whole thing started over three years ago. I lived in one of those big, old Victorian-styled houses, and my room was on the top floor. I'd gone to bed early that night because I wasn't feeling good, and it didn't take me long to go to sleep.

"I don't remember what I dreamed about. In the dream I smelled smoke, and then I coughed myself awake." She shuddered. "My room was full of smoke. I couldn't see anything properly because everything was covered in gray haze. It took me a second to realize that smoke actually comes from fire, and then another second to remember that smoke rises. I tried to drop down to the floor to get away from it, but it didn't help much. So I grabbed my jacket and tried to open the door so that I could get out, but the doorknob burned my fingers.

"I don't know how long I froze. All I know is that the next thing I knew, the house was groaning and creaking. The ceiling started to fall and I tried to dodge, but I got hit by something on my shoulder. I freaked. I grabbed the doorknob and flung open the door, but there were flames taller than I was eating up the hallway.

"I didn't know what to do or where to go. I couldn't get out of my room and I couldn't jump out the window either since I was on the second story. The fire just kept on getting hotter and hotter and closer and closer and it was getting so hard to breathe…" She trailed off. After a moment, she started up again. "Eventually the firefighters came and got me out through the window. After that they checked me for burns – my hand was pretty much blistering by that point and I had a lot of other injuries too.

"The ambulance came pretty quickly and I was bundled into the back with my mother. The rest of my family wasn't seriously hurt, so they went down to the hospital in the car that my dad had parked across the street. I was still in severe shock at that point, so I wasn't registering much of anything, but I knew that there was something strange going on. I could hear and feel so much more than I'd ever been able to before, and some part of me was already freaking out at that even though most of me was frozen."

At this, Kitty gasped and understanding dawned across Jubilee's face. Neither said anything, however, not wanting to stop Kaylie's story. John just sat there, eyes fixated on the redhead. He thought he knew what was coming next, and he was positive it wasn't going to be pretty. Her next words confirmed his suspicions.

"When we got to the hospital, I was checked over and they started treating my injuries. I had a lot of damage from smoke inhalation, so they started with that. I think. Honestly, I don't remember most of what they did. All I remember is suddenly feeling the pain, sorrow, and anger of thousands of people. I could hear everything. Pleas to live, tirades of curses, desperate hopes for terminal patients, everything. I tried to tell the doctor that something was wrong, tried to tell my mom that I could feel and hear everything, but nobody believed me. I got hysterical, and the doctor finally put me out with some sort of drug.

"When I woke up, I was in a secluded room in the hospital, and there was a psychiatrist there, though I didn't know that was what he was at the time. I just thought he was some sort of weird doctor. He asked me some questions about the voices and I told him the truth. He wrote down everything on a little pad of paper before he left. He tried to reassure me that it would be okay, but I knew what he was thinking.

"When the doctor and the psychiatrist came back with my family, I protested and fought the decision. The doctor knocked me out again, and when I woke up, I was in a mental ward."

The pause that Kaylie took here was so that she could draw a deep, shuddering breath. Jubilee seemed to be in a horrified shock; Kitty opened her mouth to say something but John shot her a glare that shut her up before she could speak and then turned his eyes back on Kaylie, careful to keep his expression absolutely emotionless and trying very, very hard to not feel any sort of pity or horror on her behalf. Something told him that she wouldn't appreciate that. Still, he couldn't help but feel some horror, mingled with admiration. He had known that the hospital trip would have been bad, but he had no idea that it had ended like _that_.

If that was what she had been through, it was a miracle that she was as sane as she was now.

As Kaylie finally started talking again, he informed himself that paying attention was a good thing and that being lost in thought wasn't. There was still more story to go, after all.

"It was horrifying. The people there really were insane – depressed, schizophrenic, multiple personality disorder, anorexic – you name it. All of their thoughts, all of their feelings, I knew it all. The doctors kept putting me on different medications because I wasn't getting any better. I switched therapists so many times I can't remember how many I had. And none of the medicines helped. They usually just made things worse.

"Finally I was switched over when the ward down in Colorado decided there was nothing they could do to help me. I was in the ward down here for three months before Professor Xavier came for me."

Clearly finished with her tale, Kaylie knotted her fingers together and stared down at them while John tried to process the entire tale. It was hard for him to believe that only yesterday he'd guessed that her abilities had shattered her life. He hadn't realized just how right he was. Caught up in his own thoughts, he missed the quiet exchanges that the girls had before Jubilee and Kitty left. By the time he resurfaced, the two were alone in the room. "Well," he finally said, seeing the apprehensive look that Kaylie was giving him, "that explains a lot."

She shivered visibly. "So anyway, that's why I'm scared of fire," she offered quietly, her voice catching.

"But not of me."

She shook her head without pausing for a moment. John's lips twitched into a half-smile. "You probably should be," he told her conversationally, leaning forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "Sensible people usually are."

"I thought we just established that I'm not sensible," came her whisper, with more than a hint of choking. It was clear to John that she was desperately trying to hold back tears. Wordlessly, John got to his feet and sat down on the couch next to her. She tried to scooch away from him and John stopped her from falling off the couch by grabbing her shoulders with his hands.

"Come on, small stuff," he said quietly, pulling her to his chest. "Let it out."

There was only a moment of hesitation in her stiff little body before silent sobs began to wrack her head to toe. She wrapped her arms around him and gripped onto his shirt like it was the only thing she had in the world, and he, awkwardly, patted her head and stroked her hair. After what seemed like forever, but was actually only a few minutes, she let go and her crying died down to a few sniffles. "You smell nice," she mumbled.

"Gee, thanks."

She drew a deep breath. "You didn't have to do that," she said quietly, finally looking up at him. John huffed.

"Don't get the wrong idea," he warned. "I don't like seeing people cry."

Quickly, Kaylie turned away and rubbed at her face with her sleeves. "I shouldn't have been crying," she muttered. "I cried enough last night."

"Last night?"

"I had a nightmare," she admitted, still not looking at him. "It's why I finally decided to tell you guys what happened to me."

A nightmare. "That explains why I woke up horrified in the middle of the night."

Even though he couldn't see her face, John was sure that Kaylie flushed to a red that a tomato would be jealous of. "I – I knew I was leaking, but I didn't know it was that bad! I'm so sor-"

"Not your fault," he said easily. "With all the crap you've been through, I'm surprised you don't wake up half the school more often."

She looked over at him then, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear as she did so. Her face still held evidence that she'd been crying. "Cold water would help with that," John told her, poking her cheek rudely. "Want me to push you into the pool?"

That got a shaky smile out of her. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass," she replied. He watched as she stood up, shifted from foot to foot for a second, then quickly leaned forward, kissed him on the cheek, and then left as quickly as she could.

John just sat there for a moment in a state of mild shock. His hand slid into his pocket of its own accord, looking for his lighter. When his fingers met with nothing, he snarled, "That girl needs to be shoved in a wall and get stuck there." With that, he picked himself up off the couch and headed back towards his room to find the lighter that Kitty had distracted him from picking up before.

* * *

_A/N: Two months. I am so sorry. You guys do not deserve these long waits between updates. I promise I'll try to get better. So. This time we had story time from Kaylie and we finally got the entire story! …Or did we? Either way, there seems to be some blossoming fluff going on between our little psychic and our resident pyromaniac. Thoughts? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!_


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